Aston Villa will welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers at Villa Park on Saturday evening, hoping to bounce back in the Premier League by securing a victory at home. The Villans suffered a bitter 1-0 defeat away at Sheffield United earlier this week, so Dean Smith will be desperate to get a positive response from his players this weekend.
The Villans will set themselves up in a 4-3-3 formation, with Smith expected to make a couple of tweaks to his first-team for this West Midlands derby. Both Ross Barkley and Douglas Luiz could be named in the Villa starting XI at the expense of Jacob Ramsey and Marvelous Nakamba.
4-3-3 Aston Villa Predicted Lineup To Face Wolves
Defence
Emiliano Martinez will continue to play in between the sticks for the Villans after failing to keep a clean sheet in his last league outing. Tyrone Mings will resume his defensive partnership with Ezri Konsa at the heart of the Villa backline as they try to keep the Wolves attackers at bay throughout the 90 minutes.
Ahmed Elmohamady will be a nailed-on starter at right-back while Matt Targett fills in on the other flank as the left-back. Smith will instruct both of them to pick and choose their moments to join in on the attack as they cannot afford to leave space behind them for the pacey Wolves wide players to exploit.
Midfield
As mentioned earlier, Ross Barkley and Douglas Luiz might get a start alongside John McGinn at the centre of the park as Smith looks to freshen up his first-team for this weekend. The midfield trio will have to find a way to disrupt the opposition’s rhythm in the game and create some decent chances for their teammates in the attacking third.
Marvelous Nakamba and Jacob Ramsey will have to settle for a spot on the bench as they wait for their chance to shine as the impact substitutes if required.
Attack
Anwar El Ghazi will continue to feature as the left-winger and is expected to carry most of his team’s goal-scoring workload up top. Bertrand Traore will look to use his pace to cause a few problems for the opposition from the right.
Ollie Watkins will once again lead the charge for the Villans down the middle. The English striker needs a goal to boost his confidence, so this upcoming derby could be an ideal opportunity for him to find some form by scoring a decisive goal on Saturday.
