On Saturday, 30th March, as part of the 30th round of the Premier League, Aston Villa will host Wolverhampton on their home ground. Before the international break, the Birmingham side settled for a draw with West Ham, while the Wolves spectacularly crashed out of the country's Cup quarter-finals at the hands of modest Coventry – 2:3.
Aston Villa: Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Moreno; Bailey, Tielemans, Luiz, Zaniolo; Diaby; Watkins.
Wolverhampton: Sa; Kilman, Dawson, Toti; Semedo, Gomes, Doyle, Lemina, Ait-Nouri; Sarabia, Fraser.
Aston Villa, sitting fourth in the Premier League table with 1 game in hand and leading fifth-placed Tottenham by 3 points, still holds hopes of landing in the Champions League – for the first time since 1992. The Birmingham team keeps up the pace but has recently lost some valuable points. After winning three matches in a row, the Lions didn't perform at their best in the last two encounters, losing heavily at home to Tottenham 0-4 and then drawing 1:1 with West Ham: Nicolo Zaniolo levelled in the 79th minute, responding to Michail Antonio's first-half goal.
While Villa Park started the season as a fortress for the hosts, Emery's side lost three out of four home Premier League matches this year – as many as in the first 23 games under the Spanish manager. In the Conference League, the yellow-blues scalped Ajax (4:0 over two matches) and will meet Lille in the quarterfinals.
Wolverhampton currently sits ninth in the Premier League table, 6 points behind the top six, so hopes of qualifying for European competitions are still alive. After a sluggish start to the season, Gary O'Neil's men have picked up momentum, allowing them to move up to the better half of the table.
The Wolves' confidence was boosted by 3 wins and 1 loss in the last 4 rounds. After a 3:0 defeat by Newcastle, the Wolves triumphed 2:1 over Fulham at home but unexpectedly lost 2:3 to Coventry in the FA Cup quarterfinals shortly before the international break.
Villa has not won any of their last six Premier League matches against the Wolves, and the first-leg match ended in a 1:1 draw.
Although Villa has struggled in recent years against Wolves, this time should be different. The Birmingham side can't afford to drop points, as Tottenham might kick the team out of the top four in the Champions League.
Aston Villa has scored 35 goals in 14 home games – the third-best record in the division. The hosts' main striking forces are all fit, especially Watkins, so we'll pick their individual total over 1.5 goals.
With the support of the home stands, Aston Villa will take the initiative and attack more, so we recommend backing the Lions with a corner handicap of -1.5.
Both sides consistently earn an average of 2.5 yellow cards per game, hence going with total cards over 4.5.
I'm betting on a 2:0 victory for Aston Villa.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Liverpool | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 29:11 | 35 | |
2 | Chelsea | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 31:15 | 28 | |
3 | Arsenal | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 28:14 | 28 | |
4 | Manchester City | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 25:19 | 26 | |
5 | Brighton | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 23:20 | 23 | |
6 | Fulham | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 21:19 | 22 | |
7 | Nottingham | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 16:16 | 22 | |
8 | Aston Villa | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | -1 | 22:23 | 22 | |
9 | Bournemouth | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 21:19 | 21 | |
10 | Tottenham | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 28:15 | 20 | |
11 | Brentford | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 27:26 | 20 | |
12 | Newcastle | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 17:17 | 20 | |
13 | Manchester Utd | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 17:15 | 19 | |
14 | West Ham | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | -9 | 18:27 | 15 | |
15 | Everton | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | -7 | 14:21 | 14 | |
16 | Leicester | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | -9 | 19:28 | 13 | |
17 | Crystal Palace | 14 | 2 | 6 | 6 | -6 | 12:18 | 12 | |
18 | Ipswich | 14 | 1 | 6 | 7 | -12 | 13:25 | 9 | |
19 | Wolves | 14 | 2 | 3 | 9 | -14 | 22:36 | 9 | |
20 | Southampton | 14 | 1 | 2 | 11 | -19 | 11:30 | 5 | |
1 | Brentford | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22:12 | 19 | |
2 | Liverpool | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13:3 | 18 | |
3 | Arsenal | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 17:6 | 17 | |
4 | Manchester City | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15:10 | 16 | |
5 | Brighton | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12:9 | 13 | |
6 | Fulham | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 13:12 | 13 | |
7 | Bournemouth | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10:6 | 13 | |
8 | Tottenham | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 17:7 | 13 | |
9 | Manchester Utd | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11:8 | 13 | |
10 | Chelsea | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12:8 | 12 | |
11 | Aston Villa | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12:9 | 12 | |
12 | Nottingham | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8:6 | 11 | |
13 | Newcastle | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8:8 | 11 | |
14 | Everton | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9:8 | 9 | |
15 | Leicester | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9:10 | 8 | |
16 | West Ham | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 10:15 | 7 | |
17 | Crystal Palace | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4:8 | 6 | |
18 | Ipswich | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 5:10 | 4 | |
19 | Wolves | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 11:18 | 4 | |
20 | Southampton | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 7:16 | 4 | |
1 | Liverpool | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16:8 | 17 | |
2 | Chelsea | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 19:7 | 16 | |
3 | Arsenal | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11:8 | 11 | |
4 | Nottingham | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8:10 | 11 | |
5 | Manchester City | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10:9 | 10 | |
6 | Brighton | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 11:11 | 10 | |
7 | Aston Villa | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10:14 | 10 | |
8 | Fulham | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8:7 | 9 | |
9 | Newcastle | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9:9 | 9 | |
10 | Bournemouth | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 11:13 | 8 | |
11 | West Ham | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8:12 | 8 | |
12 | Tottenham | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 11:8 | 7 | |
13 | Manchester Utd | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6:7 | 6 | |
14 | Crystal Palace | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8:10 | 6 | |
15 | Everton | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5:13 | 5 | |
16 | Leicester | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 10:18 | 5 | |
17 | Ipswich | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8:15 | 5 | |
18 | Wolves | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 11:18 | 5 | |
19 | Brentford | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 5:14 | 1 | |
20 | Southampton | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 4:14 | 1 |
Comments0