Wolves will be looking at bouncing back from their disappointing result last weekend as they face a West Midlands derby against Aston Villa on Saturday, and there are plenty of pre-match talking points to discuss.
#1 Fortress Molineux
Although Wolves’ wait for a first win on the road since February will continue to Old Trafford next weekend after the loss against Brighton last time out, the side’s form at home since Julen Lopetegui arrived into the club in November has been nothing short of remarkable. Since the turn of 2023, Wolves have faced eight matches at their home stadium – winning six of them. In recent weeks, Molineux has looked and sounded more like its old self with the fans and players all pulling in the same direction to put opposition to the sword.
As well as taking down ‘big six’ outfits Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, Wolves have also overcome Brentford and Crystal Palace in their last two outings at home, with a combined score of nine goals to zero. Wolves opened their goalscoring accounts in their last two matches inside the opening half an hour, but in their two home defeats of 2023, they have found themselves having to chase the game, meaning the first goal has been crucial to all eight results. But when Wolves go in front at Molineux, they win.
#2 Places up for grabs
After such a disastrous display at the Amex last weekend, Lopetegui might be inclined to ring the changes for Saturday – despite his side still needing the three points if they are to mathematically ensure Premier League survival for another season. The head coach withdrew Craig Dawson, Joao Gomes and Diego Costa (who are all nominated for the Castore Player of the Month award for April) at half-time last weekend, but with several players at his disposal in every position across the pitch, there are plenty of decisions for Lopetegui to make in terms of his starting line-up against Villa.
One decision which might be out of Lopetegui’s hands is that of right-back. Nelson Semedo went off in added time of the first-half against Brighton and the head coach confirmed his defender had suffered a knee injury. However, the Portuguese was back in training after a few days of rest and returned to training in preparation for Saturday’s match. However, Lopetegui was not committed to saying whether Semedo will be fit enough to face Villa, with Jonny and Dexter Lembikisa – neither of whom were on the bench on Saturday – the other options he has in that position.
💪 @GomesOficial08 pic.twitter.com/igXwaZc480
— Wolves (@Wolves) May 4, 2023
#3 Looking for derby bragging rights
Just once have Wolves found themselves on the losing side to Aston Villa in all their meetings at Molineux since 2016. Going back to the Championship clashes between the clubs since Fosun took over at Wolves, the men in gold and black have come out of top more than not. They have gone head-to-head five times at home in that time and Wolves have won four of those fixtures with the most recent coming just over 12 months ago when Jonny set his side ahead early with a goal in the seventh minute before Ashley Young’s own goal 30 minutes later all but secured the three points.
Wolves have also claimed local bragging rights in many of their recent meetings with the men from Molineux on a four-game unbeaten run against Villa, thanks to two home wins and two draws in succession on the road. Lopetegui and Unai Emery were in charge of the teams for the last of those draws which came at Villa Park earlier this season – a game which ended with Villa in 11th and Wolves in 19th, and both teams have improved their league position enormously since that evening.
#4 Going down to the wire
Despite Wolves now sitting in 14th position with a seven point buffer between themselves and the relegation zone with just four matches remaining, Lopetegui’s side are not out of the woods just yet. Even with victory over Aston Villa on Saturday might not be enough to mathematically secure their place in the Premier League for a sixth successive season – the club’s longest run in the top-flight for almost 50 years.
Currently, Southampton sit at the bottom of the table and could not catch Wolves even if they are to win all four of their remaining fixtures, but Everton, Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Leicester City could all still make up that gap if results all went their way. However, if Wolves were to beat Villa this weekend and all four of those aforementioned teams fell to defeat (against Brighton, Southampton, Manchester City and Fulham respectively), Wolves would be ten points clear with just nine points to play for, meaning safety would be guaranteed.
