At A Glance
Aston Villa and Wolves meet at Molineux on Saturday as the Premier League resumes after the international break.
A host of Villans shone for their countries over the past fortnight before returning to gear up for the club’s final nine games of the campaign.
Steven Gerrard’s team come into the match in ninth place after back-to-back defeats, sitting one place and ten points below Wolves.
Wanderers, who have enjoyed a strong first season under Bruno Lage’s stewardship, will be without top scorer Raul Jimenez through suspension.
The Mexican was sent-off in their last league outing as they blew a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 against Leeds United on home turf.
That result made it four defeats in their last six top flight matches heading into this weekend’s clash.
Standout Stats
Wolves have won three of their last five Premier League games against Aston Villa (D1 L1), as many as they had in their previous 26 top-flight meetings with the Villans (W3 D9 L14).
Aston Villa won this exact fixture 1-0 last season, last winning consecutive away games against Wolves in January 2012.
Wolves have lost four of their last six Premier League games (W2), as many as they had in their previous 19 (W11 D4). Wolves have also conceded eight goals in these six games, as many as they’d shipped in their previous 14.
Aston Villa have lost consecutive Premier League games for the third time under Steven Gerrard, but have yet to lose three in a row since he joined the club in November. Seven of the Villans’ eight league defeats under Gerrard have been by a single goal, with the exception being a 3-1 home loss to Chelsea.
Since their return to the Premier League in 2018, Wolves have lost more games thanks to 90th minute winning goals than any other side (8). Three of those defeats have been this season, with only Watford in 2017-18 (4) ever losing more such games within a single Premier League campaign.
Wolves have conceded just 6.9% of their shots faced in the Premier League this season (26 goals conceded from 377 shots), the lowest such rate in the division.
Aston Villa striker Danny Ings has scored in his last two Premier League games against Wolves, but has ended on the losing side both times. Only three players have ever scored in three consecutive Premier League games against an opponent and lost each time – Matt Le Tissier vs Oldham Athletic (1993-1994), Rod Wallace vs Norwich City (1993-1994) and Ashley Barnes vs Arsenal (2018-2019).
20-year-old Jacob Ramsey has scored six Premier League goals for Aston Villa this season; only two players have scored more in a single campaign for the Villans while aged under 21 – Luke Moore in 2005-06 (8) and Gabriel Agbonlahor in 2006-07 (9).
Wolves’ Rúben Neves and Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings have each been booked nine times in the Premier League this season, with no other player receiving more yellow cards. Meanwhile, Wolves’ Raúl Jiménez and Villa’s Ezri Konsa are the only players to have been sent off more than once in the Premier League this season (twice each).
The Last Meeting
Aston Villa were 2-0 up and cruising with ten minutes left to play when the two sides met in the reverse fixture at Villa Park back in October.
But the hosts were left stunned at the final whistle as Wolves scored three times, including the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time, to snatch victory.
Danny Ings and John McGinn had earlier handed Villa the initiative, with all five goals coming in the second half.
Team News
Steven Gerrard was happy to report that Villa’s group of internationals returned to Bodymoor Heath fit and healthy.
Marvelous Nakamba continued his recovery from injury with a cameo for the Under-23s on Friday night.
Two of Wolves’ star men, Ruben Neves and Raul Jimenez, are missing through injury and suspension respectively.
Nelson Semedo and Pedro Neto could be in line to return to the squad after injury.
The Boss
“Wolves have been terrific this season. They’re well coached, they’re well organised, they’re always in games and they’ve got big talents throughout the squad. They’re above us in the league, we’ve got a game in hand and an opportunity to claw some points back, so it’s a big game for us. It’s always a game with a rivalry, and it’s very interesting for both sides. I’m really looking forward to the kick-off.”
Steven Gerrard
