Wolves vs Aston Villa prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2023-10-07 13:00.
After a tough start to the season that saw them win just one of their opening six Premier League (PL) games (D1, L4), Wolves produced the biggest shock of the campaign so far as they beat defending champions Manchester City 2-1 last weekend. Boss Gary O’Neil spoke of his pride at beating “possibly the best team ever” but he’ll be keen for that result not to go to his players' heads as they chase successive PL victories for the first time since April.
Another home outing will be welcome then, as the Molineux faithful have seen their side win five of their last eight PL games on their own turf (D1, L2). Midlands rivals Aston Villa are the next visitors, and this is a fixture that Wolves have had the better of since Villa’s return to the top-flight, winning five of their eight meetings (D2, L1) although that sole defeat did come at Molineux in December 2020.
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa won’t be fearing their weak H2H record in the PL era (W5, D5, L6), as they moved to within a point of the top-four ahead of the round with a thumping 6-1 victory over high-flying Brighton. The Villans backed that up in midweek in dramatic fashion, needing a 94th minute strike from John McGinn to see off Bosnian outfit Zrinjski in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Another win here would be a fourth in succession in the PL for Emery’s side, but to achieve that they’ll likely need to keep it tight at the back, as their six away matches in all competitions this season have yielded a staggering 24 total goals. A game against Wolves could well see that running total slow, as only one of the last nine H2Hs have seen more than three total match goals.
Key battle: Wolves goalkeeper José Sá is unbeaten in four previous H2Hs (W3, D1), keeping a clean sheet in the most recent matchup in May. He’s got a big job on his hands to stop the red-hot Ollie Watkins who has directly contributed to 28 goals in 38 appearances since Emery’s appointment at Villa (G21, A7).
Hot stat: Wolves haven’t scored 2+ goals in back-to-back PL games since February.