Villa – Wolves; A crunch game. Or is it?

The missus looked over my shoulder to ask what I was doing.
“A Villa post about the game tomorrow” says I.
“Reading isn’t it?, you’ll win.” says she.

“Er, no it’s Wolves, who are top of the league” I reply.
“Ah, you’ll beat them too”.

So there you have it.
We’re going to win, because my missus, who doesn’t have a clue and only takes a slight interest because she knows I’m Villa mad, feels it in her water or something.

I love women, but how can you just judge stuff on a bloody feeling?
Vive la difference, I suppose.

The trouble is, she’s actually on a par or even better than me, because I’m struggling to call this either way.

Do the actual teams really matter tomorrow?
I think it’s one of those games where it’s not about specific players, but much more about the game overall; the typical situation where the underdog beats the massive favourite in a Derby.
Or not.

Squad news and Ruben Neves is available after his two match ban, which is obviously a worry.

As for us, Glenn Whelan is out and will be for weeks, with a calf injury.
I know some of you don’t rate him, but I think he’s a bigger miss than some of us realise.
Whatever, we have Jedinak, who’s a very decent swap, but as we know, isn’t too mobile.
Which might be a problem against Wolves’ pace.

I don’t know how to call this.
I firmly believe that Bruce will not make us sit back. We can’t afford to let them take their time in front of us.
Hence I reckon that the best way to win is quite simply to try to outwork them.

That’s a big ask, as Wolves have a fantastic workrate themselves.
I wonder if Lansbury might get a game here?
I doubt it, but he has the required energy, to my mind.

I have to admit I’m not confident.
I’d like to think we’ll win.
But the realist in me says that if we try to attack them, they’ll counter us to very good effect.

So what’s the key to us winning?
God knows.
We simply have to out-work them and grind them down.
Other teams have beaten Wolves; we shouldn’t forget that.

But sadly, I’m going for a draw at best.
2-2.