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Fun fact: Aston Villa have failed to win any of the last six Premier League games they have contested following a midweek Champions League excursion, drawing three and losing three against West Ham (D), Nottingham Forest (L), Chelsea (L), Liverpool (L), Bournemouth (D) and Manchester United (D).
Unai Emery: “Of course we are changing the squad because we need to improve at everything – individually and collectively,” said Villa’s manager, when asked about the impact of the transfer window on his side.
“We will miss some players in the squad because we did not change Diego Carlos or [Emi] Buendia. We have the last player leaving - it’s not official - but it’s Jhon Duran. The players we have are trying and showing their commitment.”
Emery also added that Ollie Watkins is happy to stay at Villa, despite the midweek approach from Arsenal, the team he supported as a kid.
Vitor Pereira: “I play in my career a lot of derbies, big derbies and every time when I go to a country they say to me ‘this is the most incredible derby in the world’,” said the Wolves manager, upon asked about the prospect of facing Aston Villa. “Of course I understand. It’s important for us to play with our supporters. I hope we get a good result and hope that we can make proud our supporters.”
Today’s match officials
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Referee: Andy Madley.
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Assistants: Nick Hopton and Craig Taylor.
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Fourth official: Tim Robinson.
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VAR: Matt Donohue.
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Assistant VAR: Wade Smith.
Those teams: Vitor Pereira makes three changes to the side that lost against Arsenal last Saturday. Toti, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Goncalo Guedes come into the starting line-up in place of Hugo Bueno, the suspended Joao Gomes and the injured Jorgen Strand Larsen.
There are also three changes to the Aston Villa side that drew with West Ham. Andres Garcia makes his debut for the club at right-back after arriving from Levante, while Lamare Bogarde and John McGinn are also in. They come in for the injured Matty Cash and Tyrone Mings, while Leon Bailey is among the substitutes.
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Aston Villa are close to agreeing a deal to sign Marcus Rashford on loan for the rest of the season, with Unai Emery driving the move to sign the out-of-favour Manchester United forward. Ben Fisher reports …
Wolves v Aston Villa line-ups
Wolves: Jose Sa, Doherty, Toti Gomes, Agbadou, Nelson Semedo, Andre Trindade, Bellegarde, Ait Nouri, Sarabia, Cunha, Goncalo Guedes.
Subs: Johnstone, Bueno, Hwang, Dawson, Rodrigo Gomes, Doyle, Forbs, Chirewa, Pedro Lima.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Garcia, Konsa, Bogarde, Digne, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Rogers, Ramsey, Watkins.
Subs: Olsen, Zych, Malen, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Onana, Bailey, Swinkels, Jimoh.
Early team news
Mario Lemina remains outside the Wolves first-team picture as he inches ever closer to the Molineux exit door. Reports yesterday suggest the midfielder is off to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Shabab, where he will line up alongside his former teammate Daniel Podence.
Joao Gomes is suspended, but his namesake Toti could return from injury. Jorgen Strand Larsen is a major doubt, while long-term absentees Yerson Mosquera, Enso Gonzalez, Sasa Kalajdzic and Carlos Forbs all remain sidelined with knee problems. Boubacar Traore has recovered from his knee injury but has been ruled out with a dose of flu.
Aston Villa full-back Matty Cash is facing a month out with the calf injury that forced him off during his team’s midweek win over Celtic in the Champions League, while Amadou Onana, Tyrone Mings, Ross Barkley and Pau Torres are also out.
Donyell Malen could make his first start for Villa having been ineligible for selection against Celtic in midweek following his debut for the club off the bench against West Ham last Sunday.
Premier League: Wolves v Aston Villa
To Molineux, then, for a Black Country derby between two teams fighting for local bragging rights but with very different aims in mind when it comes to the bigger picture. Wolves are battling against relegation, while their visitors hoping to qualify for the Champions League for a second consecutive season.
Villa came from behind to run out fairly convincing winners in the corresponding fixture at Villa Park in September, but only after getting a rocket from their manager, Unai Emery, who was left visibly seething with rage by his team’s first-half performance.
Wolves manager Vitor Pereira was similarly angry last week when Joao Gomes picked up a daft second yellow card against Arsenal last weekend. Having picked up a booking in the first half, the Brazilian was kept on the pitch after assuring his manager he would not do anything rash and then proceeded to jump into a challenge with Jurrien Timber. Kick-off at Molineux is at 5.30pm (GMT) but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
