Aston Villa are on a roll but Wolves are proving far from friendly neighbours
Wolves’ win over Manchester City was not only a big one for Gary O’Neil and his coaching team. It was also significant in the wider context of a Premier League season which prior to last Saturday at Molineux had been largely shock free.
In defeating the champions, Wolves delivered the first genuine surprise by becoming the first team in the bottom half of the table to turn over one of the current top eight.
Beating Villa tomorrow would carry nowhere near the same prestige but would still be a notable achievement when taking into account their rivals’ form under Unai Emery.
Since the Spaniard took charge 11 months ago, Villa have performed like a top-four team, taking 64 points from 32 matches, of which they have won 20. Their status as serious contenders to qualify for the Champions League this season is fully deserved.
And yet, in Wolves, they have an opponent who regularly causes problems. Wolves are one of two teams from outside last season’s top seven, the other being Leicester, to have beaten Emery’s Villa in the Premier League.
That 1-0 defeat in May was one of just two defeats suffered by Villa in their final 15 matches last season and continued a rather miserable record at Molineux, which has seen them beaten in five of their last six visits dating back to 2017.
A 1-0 win behind closed doors in December, 2020, is their sole Premier League win in the fixture since returning to the top flight. Wolves, by contrast, have won five of the eight meetings. While there can be little doubt Villa have advanced further in that period, it is their rivals who have very much had the better of the battles.
Should that trend continue tomorrow, it would mean the outlook for O’Neil and his team had been completely transformed in the space of barely a week.
It will be easier said than done, though the Wolves head coach will no doubt have noted how Villa struggled to break down Zrinjski Mostar on Thursday. Similar tactics to those deployed against City, looking to hit Villa on the break and take advantage of Emery’s high-risk, high-reward high defensive line could prove very effective.
Villa have taken time to find their feet defensively following the loss of Tyrone Mings and while they did keep a first away clean sheet of the season at Chelsea a fortnight ago, their backline was breached on several occasions and they may again require Emi Martinez to be in good form tomorrow.
But they are also a team with considerable momentum, chasing a fourth Premier League win in a row off the back of a 6-1 thrashing of Brighton and a euphoric late win over Zrinjski.
Under Emery, they are a team who simply know how to get the job done.
