Wolves vs Aston Villa verdict, predicted score, key stats and suggested bets

Premier League, Saturday, May 6, Kick-off 3pm

Wolves 0-2 Aston Villa

Dating back to 1903, the clubs have met 93 times, with Aston Villa winning 38 to Wolves' 33. 20 games have finished in a draw.

In the Premier League era, the sides have met 15 times, winning five times each and drawing five matches.

Wolves' home form under Lopetegui has been strong. They've won six of their last eight matches at Molineux.

Aston Villa are unbeaten in eight of their last 10 away matches, losing only to Manchester City and Manchester United.

Sasa Kalajdzic (knee) and Francisco Tavares Oliveria (knee) are long-term absentees for Wolves. Boubacar Traore is working on his match fitness while Nelson Semedo, injured against Brighton, continues to be assessed.

Jed Steer (calf) and Boubacar Kamara (ankle) are unavailable for Villa on Saturday.

The visitors are sweating on the fitness of Matty Cash (calf), Leon Bailey (thigh) and Philippe Coutinho (thigh) who are all nearing a return. The trio will be assessed in the build-up to the match.

For the most part, Wolves are starting to look like a prime Nuno Espirito Santos team at home, winning and keeping a clean sheet in six of their last eight matches. Plus lots of time wasting, too.

They haven't quite figured out how to approach games on their travels yet, as evidenced when Brighton thumped them 6-0 last weekend.

Unai Emery's Aston Villa side have been one of the success stories of this season. Their form under the Spaniard has seen them climb the table to compete with Liverpool, Tottenham and Brighton for a place in Europe.

The Villains are in fine form ahead of this fixture, winning eight and drawing two of their last 11 matches. The 1-0 defeat to Manchester United was their first since February 18th and they'll be keen to bounce back.

The points were shared when the sides met earlier this season, with a 78th-minute strike from Danny Ings cancelling out Daniel Podence's early opener.

Whilst meetings between the sides in the Premier League have often been cagey, last season's fixtures produced eight goals and plenty of late drama as Wolves completed the double over Villa.

Despite their home form, Wolves do look beatable. The amount of goals they concede on the road is alarming and shows us there are still frailties. Leeds exploited those in a 4-2 win, while Bournemouth also won at Molineux.

Villa have kept things very tight on the road and they look well-equipped to go to war with Wolves in a physical game of few clear-cut chances.

Emery's men have conceded five goals in their last nine Premier League away matches. That is if you exclude their 3-1 defeat to Man City. We will because they're extremely good at football and it's unfair to include them.

Wolves have become more effecient, but scoring more than once is still an issue. It seems unlikely they'll get away with keeping a clean sheet in this match, with Villa having enough firepower to find the net more than once.