When Aston Villa host Wolves at home on Matchday 5, expect intensity befitting a derby.
What to Expect from Aston Villa
Unai Emery's team dispatched Young Boys 3-0 on Tuesday in the Champions League. Ollie Watkins was in the starting 11, in addition to Jalen Ramsay, John McGinn and Youri Tielemans. Up 2-0 at the half, Villa cruised to a comfortable victory, so fatigue should be minimal but you may want to see the lineup before playing anything more than a unit.
What to Expect from Wolves
Coming off consecutive losses in all competitions, expect a motivated Wolves team. They lost on Wednesday to Brighton in the EFL Cup, three days after blowing a 1-0 lead at home to Newcastle. While this team will come out hoping to make hay, a lack of depth and form are challenges that they have to overcome.
Edge
All the signs and trends of this matchup point to a home win for Villa. The squad is playing well, they have a good manager who typically is ready for match-ups against mid-bottom table. It is a derby, however, and Wolves don't have a win yet this year - giving me just enough pause to believe they can pull something off. Both teams played mid-week, you would expect Aston Villa to be less fatigued since they won. ALL the pundits are on Aston Villa and the Over so betting Wolves in a dogfight has the contrarian angle with some derby juice behind it.
Favorite Plays:
Villa win to nil +200, Draw 0-0 +1600, Draw 1-1 +800
Matchup Tracker: Based on signature formula.
