Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Football : England : Premier League
Saturday, 20th March 2010 - Kickoff 12:45pm

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Aston Villa

Aston Villa pushed themselves right back into the thick of the race for the Champions League places after picking up 4 points from their last 2 Premier League games, while also putting to rest any talk about being unable to win in March. This time last season, Villa seemed to come apart at the seams, but the squad has more experience this time around as they look to move up the table.

Villa may be sitting in 7th spot, and seemingly too far behind to finish in the top 4, but they find themselves only 3 points behind Tottenham Hotspur with an extra game to play. Martin O'Neill will be hoping his side can improve the 7-5-2 record they have at Villa Park this season. They have only scored 15 goals at home while conceding only 10, but this means they have less home wins than Blackburn, Fulham and Everton, as well as the sides above them. While the goals conceded at home gives them the 3rd best defensive record at home, only 2 teams have scored less at home this season.

Aston Villa have only lost 1 of their last 16 games in all competitions, and that was at Wembley in the Carling Cup Final. Villa are unbeaten in their last 8 games at Villa park but they will be concerned that they have only won 1 of their last 5 Premier League games at home. They won last time out against Burnley 5-2.

Gabriel Agbonlahor is a doubt after suffering an injury on Tuesday night at Wigan. If he cannot make it, Emile Heskey will be restored to the side.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers only ambition at the beginning of the season was to finish at least 17th in the Premier League and avoid relegation. The win at Burnley last weekend pushed them towards their goal, but there is still some important twists and turns to navigate before the end of May.

The Wolves are in the important 17th spot in the Premier League at the moment and I am sure Mick McCarthy would take this now if it was offered to him. They are 3 points clear of the relegation zone after winning an important game at Turf Moor last weekend, and have a 3-3-8 record away from home where they have scored 13 goals but conceded 27.

The win at Burnley ended a run of 3 Premier League defeats in a row in which they had failed to score a goal. Wolves had lost 4 of their last 5 away Premier League games before that win at Turf Moor. They have been beaten 5 of their last 6 matches against sides in the top half of the table away from home, and they had failed to score in 4 of those games.

Dave Edwards returns for Mick McCarthy from injury. Other than that, Wolves have no new injury concerns.

Head to Head

Wolves lost on their last trip to Villa Park in top flight football back in 2003. They lost on that occasion 3-2.

Villa have won their last 8 home games against Wolves.

The sides drew 1-1 at Molineux earlier this season.

Prediction

Aston Villa look like they are capable of making a run for a top 4 berth this season after 2 impressive results last week. They have to continue with playing 2 games a week at the moment as they look to fulfill their criteria of games after good runs in both the Carling and FA Cups this season.

Villa can struggle to score goals at home when sides are set up to allow them to have the possession and not leave spaces for a counter attack.

Wolves have some more work to do as they aim to survive in the Premier League and thus have a successful season. There may have been a decision to rest players by Mick McCarthy with the game with West Ham on the horizon, but after being fined earlier this season for doing that at Old Trafford, I would not expect that to happen again.

This match has the best defence in the Premier League in Aston Villa, against the worst attack in Wolves. This has me leaning towards an Aston Villa win to nil- I expect Villa to come out and win this game and put pressure on the sides above them as the chase for a top 4 berth goes down to the wire.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Aston Villa 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Aston Villa WIN to NIL at 2.20 at Bet365