Wolverhampton Wanderers Vs Aston Villa Betting – Saturday 24th October

Kick-Off: 12:45 GMT

Venue: Molineux

TV Coverage: Sky Sports 1

Wolverhampton Wanderers

League Position: 16th

Recent Form: LWLLD

It’s been a bit of a stop-start season for Wolves in the early stages of the season. Wins have been at a premium, with Mick McCarthy’s side only managing two league wins thus far, but draws against Hull City (1-1) & more recently away at Everton (1-1) have kept Wolves afloat and, more importantly, out of the bottom three but they are clinging onto clean air by the skin of their teeth. A defeat at home to Aston Villa could see them reacquaint themselves with life in the relegation zone, a feat Mick McCarthy is eager to avoid at all costs.

We think it’s pretty clear that Wolves are going to have one of those seasons were a regular income of points simply won’t exist. They have yet to register points in back-to-back games this season, with a defeat always following a hard earned result, a terrible trend Mick McCarthy has to banish as soon as possible. That won’t be great news to the Wolves supporters as an inform Aston Villa come to Molineux, a venue where Wolves have picked up just four points from a possible twelve. Although to some that may look a fairly reasonable tally for a club such as Wolves but when you take a deeper look at their opening home fixtures you just might think otherwise. Fulham, Hull City, West Ham United & Portsmouth have all visited the home of Wolves in the early part of the season, with their only victory coming against Fulham, the latter two games with West Ham & Portsmouth both ending in miserable defeats.

We said at the start of the season that were Wolves to survive this season then they would need to turn Molineux into a fortress. That certainly hasn’t been the case so far, although it’s still early doors, but were it not for some surprisingly positive away results Wolves could of found themselves in a more alarming league position. The draw away at Goodison Park at the weekend will have kept the critics at bay, for now at least, but another defeat this weekend, one we can see happening, would leave the club pondering where their next bunch of points will come from as their upcoming fixtures aren’t pretty; Wolves travel to Stoke City next weekend while Arsenal & Chelsea will be their following opponents within the space of a month.

Wayne Hennesey was the star man in their 1-1 draw away at Everton last Saturday, with some superb saves keeping Wolves well in the hunt for the point they eventually earned. However, they will need a similarly colossal performance from their number 1 this Saturday as we expect a Villa side buoyed by their recent victory over Chelsea to pepper the Wolves goal throughout the course of the match.

Aston Villa

League Position: 6th

Recent Form: WWLDW

Villa fans must feel like they are on top of the world after their sides weekend heroics. A fixture with Chelsea is daunting for some but Martin O’Neill had no problem firing his side up for the home clash with Chelsea, of whom were the league leaders at the time. Villa beat Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea 2-1 at Villa Park, but what was more staggering was that Villa had to come from behind to record their stunning victory and my did they deserve it. They were simply sensational at back, with their defence rock solid and impenetrable at times, and this helped Brad Friedel grow in confidence as the American produced a number of stunning saves to deny Chelsea an equaliser. Come the end, Villa were more than worthy winners and that staggering victory, and performance, should stand them in good stead ahead of their clash with Wolves.

Not only have Villa now won five out of eight in the league but they’ve also beaten two of the so called’ Big Four’ already, with Villa stunning Liverpool earlier in the season on their own patch, winning 3-1 at Anfield. In fact, it’s been Villa’s performances against sides like Wolves that has let them down thus far, with defeats at home to Wigan Athletic and away at Blackburn Rovers. It’s all good and well beating the big boys but if you can’t follow that up with victories over the smaller fish then Villa won’t have much of a chance of breaking into the top four, especially as it’s becoming tighter and tighter as each set of fixtures passes.

The Villa players should be riding high after claiming the scalp of Chelsea at the weekend but will they seize the opportunity to build up some momentum after a memorable result and get the win that could see them break back into the top four? Considering the stature and form of their opponents, we don’t see any reason why not. Villa have key players on top of their game, more notably James Milner – who was outstanding on Saturday, causing the Chelsea defence all sorts of problems at the back, whilst putting in a hefty shift in the Villa defence. Richard Dunne has reinforced the Villa back line whilst he poses a big threat to opponents from set-pieces, scoring two headed goals for Villa in as many games. Brad Friedel has proved a cunning piece of business for a while now and, although he was key in Villa’s win at the weekend, he may not be called upon as much this Saturday but you can bank on him being ready when the odd Wolves opportunity does arise.

Aston Villa remain as one of the more in form sides at the moment, with five wins from eight and 16 points from a possible 24. Since their 0-2 humbling by Wigan on the opening day of the season, Villa have bounced back and they still boast a 100% away record, albeit having played just two away games so far. Victories over Liverpool (1-3) and Birmingham City (0-1) has bolstered their away credentials and it was on their travels where Villa earned most of their points last season, with 10 of their 17 wins coming on the road in last years campaign. That has to be a big plus for any Villa backers and, off the back of a superb Chelsea win, who would doubt their ability to wrap up their third away win in succession at Molineux? – Certainly not us.

Head-to-Head (Last 10):

Wolverhampton Wanderers W: 0 Aston Villa W: 2 Draws: 0

These two have only met twice in the league, that coming way back in the 2003/2004 season. However, back then it was Villa who claimed all the spoils, beating Wolves 3-2 at Villa Park but more importantly demolishing Wolves at Molineux, 4-0. Both those encounters featured a fair few goals so perhaps that is a sign of things to coke for this weekend clash, we would certainly like to think so.

Match Verdict:- Aston Villa to WIN – 2.15 BlueSquare

With no European commitments to contend with, Martin O’Neill’s squad of young and exuberant players should be fresher than ever to perform. Villa have ideal form heading into this game, a draw with Man City and a victory over Chelsea, four points from two extremely tough fixtures and this is their easiest for some time. However, it was a typical Villa trait last season that they would falter when they were expected to win but we hope that won’t be the case this week. Villa are the favourites to comply and we would be very surprised if they were to drop any points at Molineux.

Match Odds:

Wolverhampton Wanderers – 3.6 Bet365

Draw – 3.4 Boylesports

Aston Villa – 2.15 BlueSquare

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Over 1.5 Goals in First Half – 3.2 Boylesports