Aston Villa will finally return to Premier League action tomorrow when they take on Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux in the lunchtime kick-off, live on BT Sport.
Villa have not played in twelve days after their game against Newcastle was postponed due to the Geordies having their own issues with Covid-19.
Wolves will welcome Villa looking to improve their form as they have only picked up 4 points from a possible 12, with them losing 4-0 last time out against Premier League Champions, Liverpool.
Despite a strong start to the season for Dean Smith’s men, they have struggled also of late, having only picked up three points from a possible fifteen. During their last two games, VAR has had a say in both games with last-minute decisions going against Villa.
Smith has stated that Villa are not doing a lot wrong despite the recent form. He believes Villa should have got more out of the last two games, as do I and was quick to remind us in his pre-match press-conference that we beat Arsenal 0-3 just three games ago.
TEAM NEWS
Ross Barkley is making progress in his recovery but it is thought that tomorrows tie against Wolves will come too early for the on-loan Chelsea midfielder. He could feature in Thursday’s game against Burnley.
Bjorn Engels is back in training after a long time out so could feature in some capacity while Tom Heaton continues to step up his comeback but Smith did comment earlier in the week that he lacks match sharpness.
Keinan Davis (ankle) will miss out while Wesley (Achillies) isn’t expected back until January.
Wolves will be without striker Raul Jimenez who fractured his skull in a horrible incident against Arsenal earlier this month. He is out of the hospital and was pictures at the clubs training ground this week but they are unsure on any possible return at the moment. I personally wish him a speedy and healthy return.
The only other casualty is Jonny who picked up a serious knee injury at the back end of last season.
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Mike Dean.
Assistants: Darren Cann, Mark Scholes. Fourth official: Robert Jones. VAR: Graham Scott. Assistant VAR: Timothy Wood.
DID YOU KNOW
Aston Villa have won three of their last four away games in the Premier League. They only won three of their previous forty before.
Jack Grealish has created 26 goal scoring opportunities so far this season. Only Bruno Fernandes (35) and Kevin De Bruyne (28) have created more.
Wolves beat Villa twice last season. The last time they beat Villa three times in a row was between 1957 and 1960.
PREDICTION
I have lost some of my optimism after recent results. There have been plenty of positives to take from the games but mistakes have been sneaking back into our game defensively while lady luck hasn’t exactly shone down on us either.
That shouldn’t take away the fact that we have started off the season very well but we need to push on now. It won’t be easy against a Wolves side who have the best home defence in the Premier League.
Wolves 0-0 Aston Villa.
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