Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers: predicted line-up, team news and match preview

Aston Villa take on winless Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League this Sunday with a view to consolidating their position in the top four.

Villa moved into the upper reaches of the Premier League with a win over Leeds United last weekend and three points against Wolves would keep them there.

Unai Emery‘s team should be full of confidence, especially at home. Their stellar form at Villa Park continued in the Europa League on Thursday thanks to Donyell Malen‘s brace against Young Boys.

Football deserves better than parasitic ownership

Remember Southampton last season? A team in total disarray, unable to buy a win and ultimately doomed to relegation by Halloween?

That’s Wolves now. I’m sure lots of Villa supporters are enjoying it but where Wolves go today, so someone else will go tomorrow. Football is full of owners who don’t have their clubs’ best interests at heart. The abuse and neglect of Wolves is a disgrace.

I went to the Hawthorns on Wednesday to watch West Bromwich Albion v Birmingham City and ended up thinking about the relative positions of the West Midlands clubs.

My premise was that Albion are just kind of there while Villa are near the top, Coventry City are flying, Birmingham are making a big noise and Walsall are pushing for promotion. Only Wolves’ headlines were the wrong sort.

They have two points in the Premier League and have changed their manager. They already feel a long way behind where they were this time last year but that, unfortunately is just their direction of travel at the moment.

The people making decisions about strategy, identity and recruitment at Molineux have a lot to answer for.

Villa team news

It’s all been good news for Villa on the injury front lately and there were no new concerns from Thursday night’s win over Young Boys.

Andrés García was named on the bench and Amadou Onana was able to start the match, so Villa’s injury list, improbably, is down to a single player.

Tyrone Mings is a medium-term absentee and isn’t expected to return until the new year.

Villa predicted line-up v Wolves

Sunday’s Villa team essentially picks itself, I think. There’s no reason at all to mess with a defence that’s at full strength, Mings aside, and both Emi Buendía and Morgan Rogers are surefire starters against Wolves.

I think Onana will be the man who misses out in midfield with Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara playing in a double pivot and John McGinn operating on the right.

With two games coming up in the next week and the fixtures starting to pile up, Emery could also leave Kamara on the bench and go with Onana for what might be a blood-and-thunder home game despite the poor standard of opposition.

Up front, I’d pick Malen and I think Emery will too. That probably means he won’t. But he should. There won’t be a better chance to suck it and see.

Where to watch Villa v Wolves

Villa’s home game against Wolves will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Premier League in the UK.

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