Aston Villa are on the road once again and head to Molineux to face Wolves on Saturday. Here’s the latest heading into another pivotal game in the Premier League…
THE BUILD UP
Unai Emery’s Villa are looking to bounce back from their first defeat in eleven games with an away victory this weekend. The Villans remain in seventh but have Roberto De Zerbi’s entertaining Brighton & Hove Albion breathing down their necks; Albion can leapfrog Villa tonight if get the better of Manchester United at the Amex.
With just four fixtures remaining, each result is pivotal and Aston Villa will therefore need to pick up all three points against Julen Lopetegui’s side this weekend to continue their fight for a European spot.
It was a second defeat of the campaign at Old Trafford last time out for the claret and blue outfit. A tense, narrow game was decided by Bruno Fernandes’ deflected effort in the 39th minute; a result that saw United cement their place in the top four. Villa had their chances, particularly in the second-half, but failed to capitilise on the Red Devils’s defensive injury woes and suffered a first loss since the 4-2 defeat at home to Arsenal in mid-February.
This week’s opponents, Wolves, were on the end of a drumming last time out, having been torn apart by Brighton by six goals to nil away from home. Despite resting a number of key players, the Seagulls were dominant and found themselves 4-0 up at the break thanks to goals from Deniz Undav, Pascal Groร (2) and Danny Welbeck. The second showing was just as impressive and both Undav and Welbeck completed their braces to round off a terrific win at the Amex.
When the two sides last met earlier this season, the score finished one apiece at Villa Park with Danny Ings cancelling out Daniel Podence’s 12th minute strike. Will Emery bounce back from last weekend’s defeat and steer his side back on track to a European finish or can Lopetegui’s men claim a fourth consecutive victory at home?
TEAM NEWS
ASTON VILLA
Defender Matty Cash could make his return to the Aston Villa match-day squad this weekend, if he passes a late fitness test ahead of the trip to Molineux. The right-back has missed the previous seven games due to a calf injury picked up whilst on international duty with Poland in March.
Unai Emery revealed that the number two was close to returning prior to the visit to Old Trafford last Sunday and therefore may be involved against Wolves.
Leon Bailey and Philippe Coutinho have an outside shout of being available too, but are expected to miss out. The pair were ‘very close’ to training again with the side last week and may have taken part in the first-team sessions at Bodymoor Heath over the last few days ahead of Saturday’s game.
Meanwhile, Boubacar Kamara is thought to be ‘recovering well’ but will be absent this week. Unai Emery revealed that if everything went well, the Frenchmen ‘could maybe start to train this week’, but the head coach is treading lightly with the summer signing due to previous concerns of rushing him back too soon during his last outing at Stamford Bridge.
Elsewhere, Jed Steer, sadly, is unlikely to play for the club again due to the extent of his Achilles injury and the expiration of his contract this summer.
WOLVES
Julen Lopetegui is expected to be without right-back Nรฉlson Semedo for this weekend’s Midlands clash at Molineux. The Portuguese defender suffered a knee injury during last week’s defeat at Brighton and was withdrawn just before half-time. If absent, Spanish full-back Jonny is expected to take his place.
On the 29-year-old’s condition, Lopetegui said: “We will make the assessment, but it’s not a good thing for us as he’s a very important player. He has pain in his knee, but I don’t know more.”
Summer signing Sasa Kalajdzic is unavailable this weekend and for the remainder of the season having picked up a long-term ACL injury during the 1-0 victory over Southampton in September. The Austrian arrived at the club for ยฃ15 million from German side Stuttgart but has played just 45 minutes for his new side and will look to kick-start his Molineux career again next season.
Also missing this week for Wolves is Boubacar Traorรฉ who is sidelined with a groin injury and has not featured in black and gold since December. The Malian international is another name who arrived in the summer window but has struggled for game time due to injury, racking up just eight appearances this term.
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A BIT ON WOLVES
Wolves are 14th in the Premier League on 37 points heading into this game week but have very little to play for in the remaining four fixtures. Despite a rocky opening first couple of months of the season under Bruno Lage which saw the Wanderers within the bottom three, Julen Lopetegui was able to rescue his side after arriving in November and has seemingly steered them to safety; Wolves are seven points ahead of 18th place Nottingham Forest as it stands.
A recent resurgence in form at home has certainly helped the Midlands side pull away from the relegation zone. At Molineux, the Wanderers have won all of their last three games, defeating Chelsea, Brentford and Crystal Palace in recent weeks. It is away from home where the issue lies at the moment, with Lopetegui’s side picking up just two points from their last six fixtures on the road.
The West-Midlands side have also struggled putting the ball in the back of the net this season and are ranked the third lowest in terms of goals scored (29) – only Everton (27) and Southampton (28) have less at this stage. This is despite a wealth of attacking talent in the squad, including the likes of Raรบl Jimรฉnez, Matheus Cunha and Diego Costa who have managed just three goals between them this term.
Daniel Podence and Rรบben Neves are the club’s top scorers with six each and have scored over 40% of the side’s goals in the Premier League this campaign.
Defensively there has been some issues too and Wolves have conceded seven more goals than they did in the entirety of loss season with four games still to play. They could be feeling the loss of defender Conor Coady who was a leader and pivotal influence at the back last year.
Regardless, it is set to be a fiesty came at Molineux and both teams believe they can win. Will Unai Emery mastermind yet another victory on the road and claim all three points at Molineux this weekend or will Julen Lopetegui’s men continue their recent form at home and nullify the Villans’ European dreams?
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PREDICTED LINE-UP
Letโs take a look at my predicted line-up for this upcoming fixtureโฆ
Do you agree? Who makes your side? Share yours now and let’s discuss?
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AUTHOR | LIAM DAVIES
Authorโs UTV PODCAST archive Liam Davies – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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