Wolves at Villa Park, behaviour breeds behaviour and match facts from the BBC

Call me old fashioned, but there is something nice about a 3pm kick-off on a Saturday. It's almost as if it's what weekends were made for. The person that came up with the idea of taking two days off, clearly had football in mind.

And as I write this, I've got eight hours to the match. That means breakfast in bed, a little house admin, a trip into town to pick up the things I think I need, maybe a lunch somewhere and if I'm lucky, I'll get a pint with the early match. Home in time for main event of the day. And if we get three points, it's going to be a good rest of the weekend.

And I know it's a bit of a cliche, but every single match in this league is important and even though we're playing a side in the bottom three, they can come to Villa Park and steal something. This match has banana skin written all over it. 

Every single match is must win. And I know it's early in the season, but we're in a good place and the way we stay here is by winning these matches. And sure, we're not going to win every match, but there are some you don't want to lose and this is one of them.

I think I've probably written about this before, but Wolves and West Brom are just as big for me as Birmingham City. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy beating the Clowns a little more because they're a deluded bunch, but Wolves and West Brom are big matches too.

And for Wolves, this is the biggest match of the season. To put the importance of this match into perspective, Manchester United in tenth spot at the moment, could go above us today if the win and we lose. And that would feel quite strange. 

And I know it's still early in the season but I've already written it. We must win today, not because we'll be relegated or drop into the bottom three, but to build that momentum, to really start to believe, to put the fear into our opposition ... for many reasons. Winning is a habit and behaviour breeds behaviour. 

And on that, it's full circle. You've read everything above before, but this time is different. You know it is. 

Match facts from the BBC

Head-to-head

  • Aston Villa are vying to win consecutive Premier League games against Wolves for the first time since 2004.

  • Wolves' 2-0 defeat in last season's corresponding fixture ended their unbeaten four-match league run at Villa Park (W2, D2).

Aston Villa

  • Villa have conceded 26 goals in their past 12 top-flight home matches (2.2 per game), compared to just eight in their previous 16.

  • They can earn four wins from their opening five Premier League games for the fourth time, having done so in 1998, 2009 and 2020.

  • Jhon Duran has come off the bench to score the winning goal in all three of Villa’s league wins this term. No player has scored four winning goals as a substitute in a Premier League season.

  • Ollie Watkins has been involved in seven goals in his last six home league games, scoring four and assisting three.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

  • Wolves’ tally of one point from four games represents their joint worst start to a Premier League campaign, matching their record in 2003-04, when they eventually ended bottom.

  • They have won one of their past 14 league fixtures (D3, L10) and are winless in seven - losing six - since beating Luton 2-1 in April.

  • It is their longest run without a top-flight victory since a 12-game sequence between April and August 2022.

  • Wolves have lost an unrivalled 11 Premier League matches since the start of March. Their return of nine points during that time is a league-low for ever-present teams.

  • They have conceded a league-high three goals from outside the penalty area this season, including twice in their 2-1 defeat by Newcastle last weekend.

  • All four of their top-flight goals this term have been scored in the second half.