With it being FA Cup quarter final weekend, the action in the Premier League is heavily truncated and there is just one match from the division on Saturday, which actually is going to affect the race for Europe and the relegation dogfight as Aston Villa host Wolverhampton Wanderers.
This is a big match for Aston Villa, who are without a win in three since the restart, but they face a tough assignment against a Wolves outfit who have won both their matches since the break and who look in very good order.
Where to Watch
The game can be seen on BT Sport 1 with the build up beginning at 11am and the match kicking off at 12.30pm.
Aston Villa
In a normal Premier League season you would give Aston Villa little chance of escaping the drop. They don’t look able to contain good sides and they don’t have enough goals in them and that is not a particularly promising combination it must be said. Villa have only won one of their last 10 matches either side of the enforced break and are very lucky to still be in touch at the foot of the table. If they are to win here they will move up to 16th so the motivation is obvious for them.
The first thing Villa have to do is threaten to find the net. That isn’t going to be easy though because they lack a 15 goal per season striker so unless the likes of Jack Grealish and conjure up some magic Villa are going to need to ride their luck. The other thing they need to do is stop giving soft goals away. Almost all of their goals against are poorly defended and they just can’t afford to keep on doing that.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
This season has been one of the longest Wolves will ever had as we are approaching a whole year since it started with their Europa League efforts kicking it off. We’ve seen no ill effects of that time though because they have returned from the Covid-19 break looking as good as ever with a couple of wins and no goals against. You could argue that in West Ham United and Bournemouth they haven’t played much but you could equally point out Villa are no better.
The one impressing thing about Wolves is that they are always so hard to break down. You would think the longer this return of the season goes the weaker they might become because they don’t have the biggest of squads but for now they should be fine. They are very strong in defence and in attack and are pushing hard for the Champions League spots make no mistake. A win here moves them into fifth which could be enough, but within two points of fourth if it isn’t.
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Team News
Aston Villa may be a little more balanced than they have been thus far as right-back Frederic Guilbert has recovered from injury and is fit to return. There could also be places in the side for Danny Drinkwater and Henri Lansbury.
Wolves have announced no fresh injury problems for their short trip to Birmingham. One man who will be hoping to start is Pedro Neto who has been used as a substitute in the first two games since the restart and has impressed on both occasions.
Betting
It is hard to go against Wolverhampton Wanderers here. There just aren’t enough goals in this Aston Villa side and you wouldn’t trust them to keep a clean sheet either. Wolves’ only defeat in their last 10 either side of the break was to Liverpool so they are in fine form at the minute, and look set to finish the season very strongly, whereas Villa might actually have come back looking worse if that was possible.
The concern would be that Wolves don’t have the biggest squad to switch players around with but they were at home on Wednesday night while Villa were trawling the motorways or the skies depending on how they travel, so the visitors might not be disadvantaged here. I’m not a backer of away sides at odds on per se but these are different times and away teams aren’t as under the pump as they usually are. Wolves are comfortably the better side and can win this one.
Tips
WON – Back Wolverhampton Wanderers to beat Aston Villa for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with BetVictor
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