Prediction & odds for the game: Wolves (5/4) v Aston Villa (9/4) – ST is backing the home win

When: Saturday, 12th December @ 12.30pm K.O

Where: Molineux

Wolverhampton Wanderers will face Aston Villa this weekend in what should be a fascinating Midlands derby in the Premier League.

Wolves

Wolverhampton Wanderers haven’t been able to build up the sort of consistency they would’ve hoped for so far this season in what is rapidly turning out to be one of the most competitive Premier League campaigns in years. Nuno Espirito Santo has been forced to regroup after Doherty and Jota were sold and Jimenez went down with a fractured skull, and while they may not be in any danger of being relegated, their fans have come to expect so much more than that.

The 1-1 draw against Newcastle was disappointing and so was the defeat to Leicester, but in the midst of all that, Wolves did manage to beat Crystal Palace before earning a hard-fought draw against Southampton. They proceeded to beat Arsenal under tricky circumstances at the Emirates, only to lose badly at the hands of reigning champions Liverpool.

Aston Villa

The first few games of the season had some wondering whether or not Aston Villa would do a Leicester City and make a shock push for the title, but now that things have settled down a bit, the expectations are being managed in a far more realistic manner. Villa still do have a squad that is capable of beating just about anyone in the league and they’ve already proven that, but there’s still a sense of the unknown when it comes to what their ceiling really is.

Villa’s 1-0 win over Leicester reaffirmed their position as a top side on their day, but since then, they’ve lost four games in their last five – and not the ones you’d think. They were humbled by Leeds and edged out by Southampton, they shocked Arsenal in a commanding 3-0 display, and then they dropped back-to-back 2-1 losses against Brighton and West Ham.

Conclusion

This is going be a gritty game, and in that type of setting, we actually favour Wolves to edge out Aston Villa and pick up the win. Both clubs are going to put a bit extra into this one as a result of it being a derby and we do think they’ll both get on the scoresheet, but Wolves just have that extra gear to go to when they need to take it up a notch – whereas Villa have been found out a few times already this season.

Our official prediction is going to be 2-1 Wolves, ensuring we hit the over 2.5 goals mark.

Verdict: Back the home at odds of 5/4 and the over 2.5 goals scored at odds of 1/1 (All odds are taken from bet365).

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If you want to bet on Wolves vs Aston Villa then head on over to the betting page. Alternatively, you can check out some of the other available fixtures at the soccer predictions page ahead of what is bound to be a thrilling month of Premier League action in December.