Prediction and odds: Aston Villa (19/20) vs Wolves (3/1)

We’re backing Aston Villa/Draw (HT/FT) at 14/1

When: Wednesday, 4th January 2022 – 8pm KO (GMT)

Where: Villa Park

Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers will collide in a classic Midlands derby this week as the Premier League continues.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa fans have been waiting to see their club vault back towards where they once were for many years now. In a lot of ways, they’re still quite a far distance off. However, they’ve certainly been taking the right steps forward in order to try and turn back into a consistent top half club. Unai Emery was an inspired appointment and now, with the January window upon us, there’s a lot of potential in the air.

A return to action at Villa Park came on Boxing Day as the hosts were tasked with taking on Liverpool. The determined Reds were largely able to hold off Emery’s men and, ultimately, Villa fell to a 3-1 loss. Then, on New Year’s Day, the boys from the second city came firing back in the capital as they managed to defeat Tottenham 2-0 in a game they thoroughly deserved to win from beginning to end.

Wolves

Wolverhampton Wanderers find themselves in a tricky situation after years of mixing it up in the top eight. They’re currently situated in the bottom three and, arguably, deservedly so. Still, the introduction of Julen Lopetegui has been positive, and that’s the kind of step forward they needed if they wanted to be serious about bouncing back – especially given the fact they’ve got a really tough stretch of games coming up.

Wolves returned to action slightly earlier than a lot of clubs as they had to see off the challenge of Gillingham, winning 2-0 in the League Cup. They proceeded to keep that winning momentum going by beating Everton on Boxing Day at Goodison Park. Alas, their run came to an end at the hands of Manchester United in a 1-0 loss that still showcased some of the first team’s main strengths.

Conclusion

We expect this to be a Midlands classic between two sets of fans who, over the course of the last few years, have grown to dislike each other quite a bit. We anticipate Villa will be the ones to go into the interval with a 1-0 lead, before Wolves really wake up in the second half and start to press their rivals back.

Two goals in quick succession is a brave prediction but that’s what we can see happening, before eventually, the home side will get their act together and equalise. From there, it’ll likely be the hosts who go after the winner, but it’ll end all square after a real war of attrition.

Our tips (all taken from bet365): Aston Villa/Draw (HT/FT) at 14/1 + over 2.5 goals at 1/1

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