Wolves v Aston Villa Preview

Wolves entertain Villa in a juicy looking lunchtime West Midlands derby where Mick McCarthy’s men will look to turn some glimpses of promise into some much needed points. Wolves came desperately close to ending Everton’s six match unbeaten run last weekend. Wolves were looking good for 3 points until Everton’s Diniyar Bilyaletdinov scored from close range with 88 minutes on the clock. Despite registering a point, it was far from a good week for Wolves having lost to bottom club Portsmouth at Molineux a week previously. Wolves have now gone a month since their last win which was at 2-1 home win against Fulham, but another brutal month is to come with the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea waiting in the wings to face the Wanderers. They are hovering above the relegation zone but only by a fragile margin but Mick McCarthy should have a full complement of players to pick from with the exception of Stefan Maierhofer, who is suspended after being dismissed at Goodison last weekend. Chris Iwelumo returns to the squad after being sidelined for 6 months with a broken foot.

Villa are certainly shaping up to be contenders for a top 4 spot this season. If we can ignore the wobbles they had against Wigan and Blackburn, Villa have shown themselves to be an organised and exciting outfit who have already turned over two of the Premier Leagues famous top four this season. Liverpool were the first big scalp early in the season and league leaders Chelsea were given their second defeat in three weeks when Villa beat them 2-1 last weekend. The Chelsea victory followed a more than creditable 1-1 home draw against Man City where Villa had the lead until the hour mark. Martin O’Neill has been quoted this week as saying this is his best squad in his 3 year tenure at Villa Park and after Villa suffered greatly for having a small squad at the business end of last season, O’Neill has taken the measures to prevent lightening striking twice.

I think this very solid Villa side will cope with anything Wolves have to throw at them and 2.22 for the Villa victory can’t be passed up.

Stakes 5/10 on Villa at 2.22 with Canbet. Click here to place your bet!