Aston Villa vs Wolves
30th October 1945hrs
Football – England – EFL Cup
Pick Aston Villa
Bookmaker Coral
Odds: 63/50 odds taken 2000 GMT, Tuesday 29 October)
It’s an all-Premier League and Midlands derby at Villa Park on Wednesday as Aston Villa take on Wolves. A quarter-final position awaits the winner, in addition to the usual bragging rights for the victorious supporters.
Aston Villa vs Wolves Live Stats & Betting Odds
Aston Villa Preview – Will Villa make home advantage count and move on to the quarter-finals?
Coming into this season there’s no doubt that Aston Villa’s only priority would be ensuring they remain in the Premier League following their promotion in the last campaign. Significant sums of money have been spent to help them achieve that and manager Dean Smith will be happy with how his team have performed so far. Before Saturday’s defeat away to champions Manchester City, Villa had taken seven points from nine to pull themselves out the relegation zone. They’re now three points clear of third bottom but performances have definitely been improving.
As is so often the case with teams competing in the bottom half of the Premier League, this competition is not always a priority. Smith has assembled a big squad however and he has used that to good effect so far. A resounding 6-1 victory away to Crewe of League Two in the second round with a number of changes being made. It was a stronger team that took the field away to Brighton in the last round but still ended in a commanding 3-1 win with Jack Grealish coming off the bench to seal their passage to the last 16. Villa have not went beyond this stage since 2013 when surprisingly beaten by Bradford City in the semi-final.
Wolves Preview – Can a likely much changed Wolves team do enough to see off Midlands’ rivals?
Having started this season in somewhat underwhelming form, the last month or so has been much more positive for Wolves. Qualifying for the Europa League following their first campaign back in the top-flight was a tremendous achievement but there’s always going to be uncertainty as to how that affects a team who are not used to playing European football. Nuno Espirito Santo clearly targeted his team’s progress to the group stages and was not overly concerned with his that impacted Wolves’ early league form. They sit a point ahead of Villa in the table coming into this, are making good progress in the Europa League and are now unbeaten in their last eight games.
Due to their European commitments, Wolves have only played one game in the EFL Cup thus far. A 1-1 draw at home to Reading meant they required penalties to see off the Championship strugglers Reading. Whilst a number of fringe players played in that game, it was a relatively strong team but the indications are that Wolves will play a shadow line-up at Villa Park tomorrow. Santo clearly feels his team have played a lot of football of late and views this competition as fourth on their list of priorities. Wolves also face Arsenal on Saturday and they will feel they are capable of getting something.
Key-Facts – Aston Villa vs Wolves
- Villa have been very impressive in this competition in the previous two rounds scoring nine goals despite a number of changes being made
- Due to European commitments Wolves have only played one round in the EFL Cup but are likely to rest a number of starters
- Dean Smith’s men are unbeaten in their last four Premier League games at home and defeated top-flight opposition in the previous round of this competition
Aston Villa vs Wolves Betting Advice
Such is the rivalry between these two clubs, tomorrow’s game is likely to be an exciting one. The EFL Cup may not carry a huge amount of prestige but it’s a derby game and the prize of a place in the last eight is up for grabs. On the evidence we have seen so far it’s Villa who seem to be taking the competition more seriously and the noises coming out of Molineux suggest there will be a lot of changes in the visiting team.
Wolves have already played eight more games than Villa this season due to their European exploits and Espirito Santo is likely to use this game to give some of his players a rest. With home advantage on their side it could well just swing this tie in favour of Villa.
