This is going to be a pretty quick article with a couple of thoughts on todays game
Both teams come into the game on poor runs; Villa one win in five and Wolves one in four and off the back of a poor result at Anfield whereas Villa played really well at West Ham without any reward.
Villa should have benefitted from the rest occasioned by last weeks postponed game – particularly for the players that have been on international duty. Barkley is still sidelined by his hammy but is reported to be running again so may be back for the next game. I haven’t seen any news on Davis but, if fit, I expect to see him on the subs bench.
Wolves are without their main strike threat and are not known for being prolific in front of goal. Their strength has been in defence but there maybe concerns here as well with Nuno having recently switched from a three at the back to a four over the last three games – will they revert to their tried and trusted formation today?
Whatever there may be an opportunity to exploit an uncertainty here.
Villa might count themselves unlucky not to have come away from West Ham without at least a draw but having said that we have to be more clinical in front of goal – we had more than enough chances to win the game. Trezeguet is the principal culprit having failed to find the net in 22 attempts this season (more than any other player) and often not even managing to hit the target. Having said that, he makes intelligent runs and gets himself into goal scoring positions and puts in a real shift for the team. It looks as if he’s trying too hard and just needs a bit of luck in front of goal to restore his confidence – so I’m sure the goals will come.
We also have to stop conceding soft goals and making silly mistakes at the back and we need to concentrate from the whistle not five minutes later; this is an unwelcome throwback to last season pre lockdown! West Ham had just two attempts on target and scored two very preventable goals. I see Smith made reference to this in his recent press conference and that he has reminded the team they need to be hard to beat which was the mantra post Project Restart.
So to today’s game which is hard to call. They beat us twice last season and we generally have a poor record against them over recent seasons, particularly at Molineaux where they’ve won the last three.
I’m not particularly good when it comes to predicting results but I’m going to stick with my recent post and go for a draw; even if only because the odds suggest one is now due!