Aston Villa and Wolves have a date in the Premier League on match day five of the 2024-25 season at Villa Park
Aston Villa had a very fine season in the Premier League last season. The Villans maintained their grip on fourth place despite a stern challenge from Spurs to qualify for the Champions League football this season. Wolverhampton Wanderers were decent in the Premier League and were not involved in any relegation fight to finish in a respectable position.
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa have been busy during the transfer window. As of the time of writing, they have recruited talents like Amadou Onana from Everton, Ian Maatsen from Chelsea, Ross Barkley from relegated Luton Town, Cameron Archer from Sheffield United, Lewis Dobbin from Everton, Jaden Philogene from Hull City, and the duo of Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea from Juventus.
The Villans also let go of several players with the likes of Moussa Diaby leaving for Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, Douglas Luiz to Juventus, Morgan Sanson to OGC Nice, Tim Iroegbunam to Everton, Calum Chambers to Cardiff City, while Philippe Coutinho and Filip Marschall left on loan for Vasca da Gama and Crewe Alexandra respectively.
On the other hand, Wolves have also made some personnel changes during the transfer window. As of the time of writing, they have signed Rodrigo Gomes from Braga, Pedro Lima from Sport Recife, Tommy Doyle from Manchester City, and Jørgen Strand Larsen arrived on a loan deal from Celta de Vigo. Meanwhile, they have not released a lot of their players apart from Max Kilman who made a big-money move to West Ham United.
Aston Villa were brilliant in the Premier League last season and they have been enjoying life under Spanish boss Unai Emery. Villa won this fixture 2-0 last season and they will think, based on their summer business, they have what it takes to have a repeat. Emi Martinex had a wonderful tournament with Argentina at the Copa America and the same can be said of striker Ollie Watkins – who was the hero in the Euro Championships semis for England. Emery still has the majority of his squad available and it remains to be seen what they will do in the top flight this term. Emery’s side have the Champions League to look forward to, but they also need a fine start in the Premier League.
The Villans did great things in the Premier League last season, while their run in the Conference League ended in the semi-finals, and they got to the UCL via the league. It goes to show their readiness to combine both assignments and achieve their set goals for the season.
Gary O’Neill has done a good job at Wolves and the club’s management must be pleased with their output so far. However, they have not been busy in the transfer market as of the time of writing and that might be their undoing in the early days of this campaign. Based on that, the expectations might not be much for Gary and his team. They had a couple of surprising results last season including a famous home win over Manchester City and they might be up for that and other results this season. Until last season, Villa’s last victory over Wolves came at Molineux in December 2020, with Anwar El Ghazi scoring a stoppage-time penalty to decide a bad-tempered game that saw Douglas Luiz and João Moutinho sent off.
Wolves have enjoyed some dominance in this fixture in the past, but it seems things have changed slightly in the past two meetings and the Villans are highly favoured to take all three points here.
In terms of the head-to-head, Aston Villa and Wolves have played 26 games since 2003. Among them, Aston Villa won 9 games, Wolves have also won 9, and eight of their past meetings have ended as a draw.
Match tickets
This Premier League match at Villa Park in Birmingham kicks off on Saturday 21st September 2024, at 3 pm UK time.
The magnificent 42,530-capacity stadium is the place to be for this clash between the Champions League campaigners and a side trying to beat the drop this term.
Getting Aston Villa vs Wolves tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.
Team news
Line-ups
Unai Emery’s men gave a good account of themselves last season and took everyone by surprise. Therefore, many teams will prepare extensively when they face them this season. Boubacar Kamara (knee) remains a long-term absentee for the Villans and he should not be available for this encounter at Villa Park.
Emiliano Martinez is expected to remain in goal after his title win with Argentina at the Copa America, while Ollie Watkins, following the European Championships final defeat with the Three Lions, will lead the line.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Lenglet, Torres, Digne, McGin, Onana, Tielemans, Bailey, Watkins.
Wolverhampton Wanderers will also be hoping for a change in fortunes as they travel to Birmingham for this crucial encounter. Their last trip to this venue ended in a 2-0 defeat and they will be keen to avoid another here. Jose Sa should be in goal for this encounter, while the likes of Rayan Aït-Nouri, Nelson Semedo, Toti and Craig Dawson are expected to be the defenders in front of him. In midfield, Mario Lemina was a mainstay last season, while Matheus Cunha, who was the man for the goals last term, is expected to be given the nod once again.
Wolves: Sá, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Dawson, Toti, Semedo, Lemina, Gomes, Bueno, Sarabia, Hwang, Cunha.
Prediction
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa typically adopt high defensive lines in an attempt to defend away from goal. They press aggressively looking to minimize spaces between the lines and thriving off transitional attacks.
Meanwhile, Wolves sit back, defend their box aggressively, and look to catch opponents on the counter. The Villans will have a home advantage so we expect that they come out on top of this one.
Aston Villa 2-1 Wolves