After two successive narrow defeats before the international break, Aston Villa will be hoping to return to winning ways when they make the short journey to the Molineux.
The win won’t come easy though as Wolves boast the fourth-best defensive record in the league, the best outside of the current top three.
I spoke to the Wolf Whistle Podcast about the importance of Wolves’ defensive discipline, the importance of their skipper Conor Coady and where they need to improve to get back to European football.
UTV PODCAST X THE WOLF WHISTLE PODCAST
Wolves’ impressive season sees them sitting eight in the league and a lot of that is due to their excellent defensive record, how important has that been to your season?
The defensive record has been very important. Although we haven’t scored many the defence has been tight and pivotal to our league position. Max Kilman has been a revelation as has Romain Saiss who is playing the best football of his career.
Wolf Whistle Podcast
Conor Coady has consistently been a key figure for Wolves with his performances earning him a regular spot in the England set-up. How much do Wolves fans love Coady?
Wolves fans love Conor. Only the second Wolves player to play for England since Steve Bull and although he’s a so user he feels like ‘one of our own. His attitude is infectious and that’s why he’s our very own ‘captain fantastic’. He’s proud to be a Wolf and we are proud he’s our leader. A top man on and off the pitch.
Wolf Whistle Podcast
Wolves sit quite comfortably in the top half of the table but where do they need to improve to reach those European spots once again?
The final third is key for Wolves as although our defence is tight we haven’t scored too many goals. Key injuries have been to blame so it’s vitally important that if we are to continue our match to Europe we are more clinical in front of goal. We have the players to achieve it but they aren’t firing on all cylinders at the moment.
Wolf Whistle Podcast
Finally what’s your score predictions for the game?
I’ll never back against Wolves so I’m going for a 2-1 win. Villa is very organised under Gerrard and it will be a tough game being a derby. But with a ten-point gap, I feel that will be enough of a buffer to play with confidence.
Wolf Whistle Podcast
FORM GUIDE
OPPOSITION FOCUS – The Missing Piece Of The Puzzle
For those fans that have kept a close eye on Wolves this season, they will be more than aware of what their overriding flaw has been this season; scoring a goal. Whilst Wolves have the best defensive record outside of the current top three they have the fifth-worst attack in the league having only scored 31 goals.
However, in my opinion, the issue is not the personnel. Wolves have mainly used two strikers so far in their season in Raul Jimenez and Hwang Hee-Chan. The latter of the two forwards, Chan, got off to a flying start scoring on his debut against Watford earlier on in the season and notching four more ever since. His impressive run of form, made Wolves trigger his option to buy, signing the striker on a permanent until 2026.
Raul Jimenez on the other hand is a striker with much more Premier League experience and has come back even stronger from the head injury he suffered last season. During his time in Wolverhampton Jimenez has scored 40 goals across a loan and permanent spell.
If Wolves can find a way to get these two top-quality forwards consistently on the form then they will consistently push for Europe and hopefully, be in competition with the mighty Villa.
THE LAST THREE
PREMIER LEAGUE HEAD-TO-HEAD
LAST TIME AT MOLINEUX
Wolves started as the team on the front foot as Adama Traore’s pass split the Villa defence in half and Dendoncker lined up a strike from a distance which ended up straight at Martinez. That was the only chance of the first half which was a very underwhelming one.
In the second half, it was the Villa who started more positively as Matty Cash’s cross hit off Semedo’s head into Grealish who laid the ball into the path of Douglas Luiz whose shot from just outside the box was just off target. It was Neto’s who was next challenge Martinez as he dribbled past the Villa midfield and unleashed a powerful shot but couldn’t quite force it on target.
It was Villa’s turn to take a shot and it was Ollie Watkins who ventured into the box and produced a shot from a challenging angle which forced Patricio to make the save at his near post. Wolves came attacking once again as Fabio Silva’s shot hit the post in the closest chance of the game. Dendoncker made another cracking effort as he forced an excellent reflex save from Martinez to keep Villa into the game.
Douglas Luiz went up for a header in a stupid fashion with his elbows up high and caught Podence which saw him receive a second yellow. McGinn picked the ball up near the corner flag and skipped passed Semedo as if he wasn’t there before getting pulled down by the same player for a penalty. El Ghazi calmly stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way by putting it to the keeper’s right.
Mike Dean showed his second red card of the game, this time to Wolves João Moutinho who swiped Jacob Ramsey’s legs in a stupid frustrating challenge. The second half proved to be a much more exciting half which Villa managed to get the better of.
MY PREDICTION
Both teams are likely to be well up for this match given the locations of the two teams which will lead to a very gritty game. The optimist in me can see Villa knocking an early goal past Sa which we will cling on to win a very ugly three points. To those making the short trip to Wolverhampton enjoy the game and UP THE VILLA!
ELLIS BURNETT | UTV PODCAST
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive ellisburnett – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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