Aston Villa v Wolves

Our next and upcoming game sees us with a great opportunity to beat those guys in claret and blue.


Unravelling Villa have centre-half worries with drunkards Richard Dunne and James Collins 'injured' and Ciaran Clark banned after picking up ten bookings, leaving Carlos Cuellar as the only available senior centre-half. However Jean Il Makoun will return.


We will have Jamie O'Hara back after he was ineligible against Tottenham and he will be likely to take Stephen Ward's place. Michael Kightly could well feature on the bench after getting some reserve games under his belt.


With the hosts having problems with unity after their two most senior centre-halves stopping up until the early hours during a team-bonding session, you cannot help but think that the opinion of the squad's general consensus of Gerard Houllier could be a low one and if we can frustrate them in the first half hour or so, the home fans will more than likely get on their backs.

Match odds          Mutual alumni          Head-to-head          Opposition statistics

Discuss more on the match at soccer24-7.com

Wolves 1 - 2 Aston Villa

They say a defeat in football can be a real kick in the teeth. To put it in cookery terms, this match contained half a tablespoon of Villa, half a tablespoon of Wolves, with a pinch of misjustice.

First half belonged to Villa with Marc Albrighton leading the onslaught, ripping Stephen Ward apart to the point where he had to come off after half an hour. But we had our chances through David Edwards, how I knew in my heart, would miss. Steven Fletcher and Kevin Doyle brought out good stops out of Brad Friedel. But just over halfway into the half, David Jones gave the ball away trying to ghost through two Villa men, the ball was sprayed wide to Albrighton who crossed to the far post for Stewart Downing to catch Kevin Foley napping and tap in from a measly few yards.

Second half, we started better and did so throughout the half. Elokobi came on for Wardy and neutralized Albrighton and managed to bring Matt Jarvis into the game a bit more and it paid off when Jarvo put in a striker's dream of a cross, only for nobody to get on the end of it and bamboozle Friedel to make it all square. Before that, Stephen Warnock looked like and should have recieved a second yellow card for a second reckless challenge on Doyle and as much as it's great to see Mark Halsey back officiating, he had a good game, but he got this decision wrong and it was costly as proved later on. Just as though the game was heading for a draw, Downing sucked Richard Stearman inside, leaving our right flank vulnerable for Warnock to whip in the ball for Heskey to head home. As good a header as it was, Christophe Berra should have done a lot better. And just as if that left a bitter taste in our mouths, Steve Sidwell made a nasty challenge on Adlene Guedioura which left him in a heap and had to be carried off to the touchline as we finished the game with 10 men.

It's all good saying we played well, but it's the points on the board that do the talking. This is our third defeat in a row with the weekend's results elsewhere and table reading negatively, and we go to the DW next on Saturday and a win is crucial just to stop the rot before we retire to the international break.

'Grobs'

LINE-UPS

　

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Foley (Stearman, 73), Craddock, Berra, Ward (Elokobi, 39); Edwards (Guedioura, 81), Henry, Jones, Jarvis; Fletcher, Doyle. Unused subs: Hennessey, Ebanks-Blake, Bent, Milijas.

VILLA (4-4-1-1): Friedel; Luke Young, Cuellar, Collins, Warnock; Albrighton (Agbonlahor, 67), Petrov (Sidwell, 85), Reo-Coker, Downing; Ashley Young; Heskey. Unused subs: Guzan, Ireland, Davies, Bannan, Lichaj.

Discuss more on this topic at soccer24-7.com

Match Preview: Wolves vs Aston Villa

With the excpetion of two Molineux meetings ago, it is very rare that Midland derbies end in a whitewash or a battering and this will meeting looks as though it will be no different. Wolves have not beaten Villa for 30 years and this Sunday is a good opportunity to end the hoodoo.

We will need a much better defensive display than last week to withstand any chance of pulling off what would be a good result in Gerard Houllier's first Premiership match in charge of Villa. Christophe Berra looks set to regain his place after a one-match ban for the under-par Richard Stearman, Michael Mancienne should make way for the more creative David Jones and contrary to what a lot of fans have been saying, I think Stephen Ward will keep his place at left-back. Having the home advantage and yet to fail to score a goal in a match this season, we should go back to 4-4-2 with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Kevin Doyle up front whilst Steven Fletcher plays left midfield on place of the struggling Jelle van Damme.

A new manager's first league should be enough to fire up any team. Houllier favourite Emile Heskey will be seeking for a start after his performance turned the game around in Villa's Carling Cup win against Blackburn as Gabriel Agbonlahor stuggles to maintain his fitness and John Carew has been under-performing. Stephen Ireland - yet to impress - also faces a battle and Richard Dunne is out with a knee injury. Villa will also look for better success away from home this season after a drumming by Newcastle and giving the game away at Stoke.

This fixture last season was very much a game of two halves. We dominated the first whereas we started to look ragged second half as it wore on as Villa slowed the play down a bit. Credit to the Villa defence however for they snuffed out every cross that came their way and Richard Dunne and James Collins had Ebanks-Blake and Doyle's number. Same could be said for Berra with John Carew. Expect no different this time around.

Count on this game being a story of two sides cancelling each other out.

'Grobs'

POSSIBLE LINE-UP

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Foley, Craddock, Berra, Ward; Jarvis, Henry (c), Jones, Fletcher; Doyle, Ebanks-Blake

VILLA: (4-4-1-1) Friedel; Luke Young, Cuellar, Collins, Warnock; Albrighton, Petrov, Sidwell, Downing; Ashley Young; Heskey

VILLA'S KEY PLAYER: Ashley Young. The winger is starting to turn into Villa's standout player after moving into a free role between the midfield and lone striker.

ODDS (with William Hill) (see more odds)

WIN: Wolves 9/5; Draw 21/10; Villa 8/5

FIRST GOALSCORER: Fletcher (Wolves) 6/1; Carew (Villa) 6/1; Doyle (Wolves) 13/2; Ebanks-Blake (Wolves) 15/2; Heskey (Villa) 15/2; Ashley Young (Villa) 9/1; Jarvis (Wolves) 12/1; Jones (Wolves) 14/1; Downing (Villa) 14/1; Craddock (Wolves) 25/1

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Andy Gray, Paul Birch, Tony Daley, Michael Oakes, Peter Broadbent, Steve Froggatt, John Burridge, Gordon Cowans.

Discuss more on this topic at soccer24-7.com