Without a game last weekend, I feel a little nervous about the game coming up. That Wolves got spanked at Anfield also makes me think we have to approach this game with a determination that shows we mean business from the very start. We can't wait to let Wolves get into their game.
Wolves will be looking to put the result against Liverpool behind them and we need to be looking to make a statement. We had a good start to the season but we're hanging on at the moment and we need three points to steady the ship.
And to be able to write that we need to steady the ship after nine games is a positive. Some might read into that that it isn't, but it really is. A win is needed and not for any other reason that we know it's possible and it feels like it has been a while.
And it's actually been over a month since we last won. So it isn't just that it feels that way. And the really worrying thing is that if we were going on current form, we'd be in the bottom three.
And this post couldn't be posted without a mention of a picture doing the rounds on social media today. All I'm going to say about this is we all do things in our spare time that wouldn't look good on social media. Yes, you could argue that as Captain of Aston Villa, there is a responsibility to not let these things get on social media.
My view is that the response can be the performance on the pitch and the three points. The rest is for social media.
Match facts from the BBC
Head-to-head
- Wolves did the double over Aston Villa last season, winning 1-0 at Villa Park after a 2-1 victory at Molineux.
- They haven't won three league games in a row against Villa since a run of seven between 1957 and 1960.
- Wolves have lost just one of the past six league meetings, winning three in a row at Molineux.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Wolves have 17 points, which is their highest tally after 11 matches of a Premier League season.
- They are unbeaten in all six games they have played against teams below them.
- Wolves are on a four-match home league run without defeat (W2, D2).
- They have the division's best defensive record at home, conceding five goals.
- Nuno Espirito Santo's side have kept eight clean sheets in their past 12 Premier League games at Molineux.
Aston Villa
- Villa have lost four of their past five league matches.
- However, they have won three of their four away matches in this season's Premier League, keeping a clean sheet in all three victories.
- Only Tottenham and Chelsea have kept more than Villa's four clean sheets in this season's top flight.
- Aston Villa's tally of 20 goals is their highest after nine matches of a top-flight campaign since 1960-61.
- Ollie Watkins has scored six goals in nine Premier League appearances.
- Trezeguet has had 22 attempts on goal without scoring in the Premier League this season, more than any other player. Ruben Neves of Wolves is next, with 17 shots. Both players scored in this fixture last season.