Wolves v Aston Villa preview: West Midlands derby at Molineux
Magnanimously taking full responsibility for the setback, he said: “We lost one battle, not the war,” with his side not yet safe from relegation.
Their heaviest Premier League (PL) defeat of the season wasn’t a great way to prepare for a West Midlands derby against Aston Villa that was first played in December 1886, though at least Wolves have only lost one of the last five H2Hs they hosted (W4).
Recent form also hints that they’ll be able to move on from the Brighton game as they’ve won each of their last three home PL fixtures ‘to nil’.
While not as crushing a blow, Aston Villa’s revival under Unai Emery stuttered as they lost 1-0 to Manchester United last time out, failing to score for the first time since he took over in November.
They’re still in the hunt for a European place as that was their first league defeat since mid-February (W8, D2), and one that left Emery “a little disappointed”.
With two league away games to go, Villa can ill afford to drop many more points on the road if they’re to clinch a first PL top-seven finish since 2009/10, so their first task is to take points away from Molineux, a venue at which they’ve struggled recently (W1, L4).
More encouragingly, they’re unbeaten in league away action against sides starting this round lower than 13th this term (W3, D3).
Players to watch: Rúben Neves scored Wolves’ last goal here and netted in a 2-1 H2H victory at home in November 2019.
On a similar theme, Douglas Luiz scored Villa’s last goal away from home with his third strike from his last four to arrive after the 70th minute.
Hot streak: Each of the last three H2Hs between Lopetegui and Emery ended 1-1.
