Aston Villa v Wolves: Premier League betting preview, free tip & TV

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Aston Villa v Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday.

Where to watch

Live on BT Sport 1, 12.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Wolves
1pt 5-6 Betfred, Sky Bet

Team news

Aston Villa
Long-term absentees Tom Heaton and Wesley are the only notable players sidelined for this clash. Frederic Guilbert, Danny Drinkwater and Henri Lansbury are all back in contention.

Wolves
Nuno Santo has a fully-fit squad at his disposal.

Match preview

In a mere snapshot of three matches since the Premier League restart, Aston Villa have shown exactly why they are fighting for survival with seven games remaining.

They demonstrated how toothless they can be in the attacking third in their first game back against Sheffield United, failing to make the most of 17 shots in the match even after goal-line technology's failure to award the Blades an opener gave Dean Smith's men a lifeline.

They then threw away the lead against Chelsea, losing the midfield battle with only 26 per cent possession and falling behind in the space of two minutes.

And although there was faint cause for optimism in their draw with Newcastle United on Wednesday, there was the feeling Martin Dubravka should have done better to keep out Villa's late equaliser and the visitors could still direct only two of their 13 shots on target.

Errors at the back and a lack of quality in attack has seen them fail to win any of their previous seven Premier League fixtures, scoring a miserly five goals in the process.

And time is running out with Liverpool and Manchester United to play in early July after a challenging Midlands Derby with Wolves.

Nuno Santo's men appear, by contrast, to have made the most of the season's hiatus, returning to action with two slick performances against West Ham and Bournemouth.

Raul Jimenez netted in both games and their rearguard has looked sharp, with successive clean sheets the result of them allowing their two opponents a combined two shots on target.

The rapid succession of fixtures may not hit the Midlands side as hard as others, with Nuno having used the fewest number of players this season (20) and the squad perhaps therefore accustom to shorter rest periods.

There is plenty of incentive for the Wanderers to keep operating on the front foot with a Champions League berth in touching distance and this will have been identified as a great opportunity for maximum points.

In their sensational first season back in the Premier League last term, Wolves earned the reputation of giant-slayers, their counter-attacking style more suited to playing teams who like to have the ball.

But in an attempt to avoid second-season syndrome this campaign, they have evolved their style of play and have performed brilliantly against the division's lesser lights.

Wolves have won eight of the nine matches they have played against the league's current bottom five this term, scoring 16 goals and conceding only four times.

That record includes a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture against Villa back in November and at a shade of odds-on and with home advantage seemingly a thing of the past, Wolves look a good bet to prevail at Villa Park.

Key stat

Wolves are unbeaten in their previous seven Premier League assignments.

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