Wolverhampton Wanderers will be hoping to bounce back from their woeful 6-0 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion last week, and despite some solid results of late, they aren’t quite out of the relegation battle yet.
Julen Lopetegui would have preferred to avoid facing an in-form Aston Villa side chasing a European spot at this stage of this season, and if Wolves are to secure a positive result, the Spaniard may have to deploy a slightly more attacking system.
The only doubt for the starting XI is Nelson Semedo, who had to be substituted last week due to a knee problem, however, he could well make it in time for this crucial tie.
There will be a few dilemmas facing Lopetegui in terms of what formation to use. However, knowing a win will pretty much guarantee Premier League football next season, we predict he will deploy a 4-2-3-1 setup against Villa.
How will Wolves line up against Aston Villa today?
Despite conceding six against Brighton, Jose Sa will keep his spot between the posts, and he will be hoping to keep his 11th clean sheet of the season today.
Semedo, if available, will start and Hugo Bueno will also keep his spot on the left side of defence. Craig Dawson and Max Kilman will retain their places at the heart of the backline and will be aiming to keep out a Villa side who have scored 11 goals in their previous seven matches.
The biggest changes to the team from last week will be in midfield. Matheus Nunes will be dropped to the bench as Lopetegui will go with Ruben Neves and Mario Lemina as the two central midfielders, and they will be looked upon to dictate the play and prevent Villa from grabbing a foothold in the game.
Matheus Cunha will drop slightly deeper and operate just behind Diego Costa, who will once again take his place as the lone striker. Lopetegui will be expecting the duo to link up well in attack and create quite a few opportunities to punish Villa’s defence.
Pablo Sarabia will come back into the starting XI, and he will start on the right wing. The £4.5m signing from Paris Saint-Germain has yet to score for Wolves, although as per Sofascore, he has made 0.9 key passes and taken 1.5 shots per game (the joint-third-best in both departments), suggesting he can make a difference and the “impressive” winger – as dubbed by Thomas Tuchel – could cause problems.
Pedro Neto will start on the left wing, and having four attack-minded players starting will give Wolves the best possible chance to secure all three points.
Predicted Wolves XI (4-2-3-1): Sa; Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Bueno; Neves, Lemina; Sarabia, Cunha, Neto; Costa
