Wolves v Aston Villa Preview

Score Draw a likely outcome as Villa visit Wolves

Wolves v Aston Villa Preview:

Premier League: Saturday, 21 January 2012 3:00pm

Author: Thomas Rooney 19/01/2012

Wolves take on Aston Villa this weekend looking for crucial points in their battle for Premier League survival. They would also like to recover from their defeat at home to Birmingham City in the third round of the FA Cup during the week.

The FA Cup may not be overly important to Wolves, but they would not have enjoyed losing at home to west midlands rivals and will want to avoid a repeat this weekend.

Home defeats to Birmingham and Aston Villa in the same week wouldn’t leave Mick McCarthy too happy, that’s for sure.

A positive result this weekend would more than make up for the defeat to Championship Birmingham though. Premier League points are like gold dust at the moment and Wolves need a few sprinkles before the end of the campaign.

As things stand, they sit 16th in the Premier League, just a point above of the relegation zone. This where they have been most the season too – hovering above the bottom three – but they know they can easily be dragged into further trouble.

They had a positive afternoon last time out in the Premier League though. They managed a 1-1 draw at title chasing Tottenham, with Steven Fletcher scoring his 9th league goals of the season.

The Wolves striker has now scored at White Hart Lane, Anfield, Old Trafford and the Emirates this season, so there is no doubt that he is a key man for them. They might even need to fight off an offer or two for his services in January.

All focus is on Aston Villa this weekend though and a much needed victory in front of their own supporters. The Molinuex crowd have only tasted Premier League victory on three occasions this season and not since the beginning of December.

As for Villa, well their situation isn’t anywhere near as fragile as their hosts on Saturday, but they too need the points. Should Wolves win this weekend after all, they will move to within three points of Alex McLeish’s men.

So, even if Villa fans are far from happy with their campaign so far – they sit 13th at the moment – things could get worse before they get better.

They will be positive going into this game though, with on-loan striker Robbie Keane set to partner Darren Bent in attack. The former Tottenham duo form a dangerous partnership on paper and they will hope to prove this as the case this weekend.

Overall, this is a really tough game to call and in the end these teams might cancel each other out. Villa are actually hard to beat on the road at the moment, while Wolves will be positive in front of the home fans.

Match bet: Draw @ 23/10 with BetVictor - Ł25 free bet.

Correct score prediction: Wolves 1:1 Aston Villa @ 6/1 with WilliamHill