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Live @ http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewLiveArticle/386512
One match ban enabled
Aston Villa are without experienced midfielder Glenn Whelan for the visit of Championship leaders Wolves.
The Republic of Ireland international has been ruled out for several weeks with a calf injury sustained in Tuesday's 3-0 win at Sunderland.
Wolves will start the game 10 points clear of Villa, following their own 3-0 midweek win against Leeds United.
Championship record signing Ruben Neves is available to return following his two-match suspension for 10 bookings.
Wolves midfielder Romain Saiss is one caution away from a two-game ban.
Villa striker Jonathan Kodjia is expected to return to training on Monday following the ankle injury he first suffered in April 2017 and which has kept him sidelined since October.
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce told BBC WM:
"Wolves are a very, very good side who have been there to be shot at from the start of the season.
"But the only thing that bothers me is how to beat them. They've bought well and they've got a lot of pace. But, if you get players for £16m or £18m in the Championship, then you should have pace.
"Whether they're doing anything wrong is for others to address. I've never really got involved in all that. I've got more on my plate trying to pick a team to get a result against them. But we have enough in our locker to give them a good game and I'm quietly confident. It's up to us to upset them.
"We've lost Glenn Whelan for the foreseeable future, which is a blow as he's one of our most experienced men. He was arguably our best player at Sunderland the other night and would have been really valuable to us."
Wolves head coach Nuno told BBC WM:
"We know what this game means to our fans. It means a lot. We must control our emotions, but we know what it means to win.
"You have to celebrate when you do. Everybody should celebrate goals. When you score, it is the moment of greatest joy in football.
"Villa is a tough game. They are a good team, they have a good manager and are a big club. They have good momentum, but we only focus on what we do on the pitch, how we prepare ourselves and what we want to achieve.
"Every game is important, it has been since the beginning and will be to the end. This is one of the toughest competitions in the world, with a lot of tough teams."
SAM's prediction
Home win 36% Draw 28% Away win 36%
SAM, the Sports Analytics Machine, is a super-computer built by @ProfIanMcHale of the University of Liverpool.
Match facts
Villa pair Lewis Grabban (15 - 12 of them for Sunderland) and Albert Adomah (13) have both scored more Championship goals this season than Wolves' two 12-goal top league marksmen Diogo Jota and Leo Bonatini. But Jota and Bonatini got the goals when Wolves beat Villa 2-0 at Molineux in October.
Wolves have not enjoyed a league double over their fellow former Football League founder members since the 1962-63 campaign, when both teams were in the top flight.
Villa's 1-0 Premier League defeat by Wolves in March 2011 is their only loss in their last 12 home derbies against the men in gold and black.
Wolves have won three of their last six meetings with Villa - as many as in their previous 32 games combined in all competitions.
In seven previous meetings with Wolves in the second tier, Steve Bruce has never lost a home league match.
By kick-off time on Saturday, Wolves will have been top of the Championship for 113 consecutive days - the longest run since Leicester City's 129 days in a row between December 2013 and May 2014.
🔥Villa v Wolves🔥[LIVE]
posted on 12/3/18
Don’t dis the thread Tamworth
posted on 12/3/18
comment by McParlandTheGreat (U6150)
posted 10 hours, 31 minutes ago
comment by Wulfrunnut (U17298)
posted 32 minutes ago
comment by GeminMallorca (U18318)
posted about an hour ago
I would actually bet money that the current top 4 will all get 90 or more which just goes to show how the standard in this league is going up each season.
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Have to point out Gem that 4 teams reaching 90 points (should that happen) in no way shows that the standard in this division is going up.
As the same collective number of points available is the same every season 4 teams getting a particularly high total means that teams near the bottom of the table must have collectively achieved a particularly low total which, to use your arguments could be said to show that the standard in the league has gone down.
In actual fact, four teams getting over 90 points suggests that those teams are generally better than the average for the division which other than those 4 teams is probably lower than usual.
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This is correct, I think in general the league is diabolical to be honest but the top few clubs are just good and good enough to live in the prem and also agree with DJ in that boro will be a real force from here on out and one of the best five sides in this division.
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Good grief!!! It's a hard job being an Aston Villa supporter sorting you lot out.
No there isn't the same number of points available every season. For example:
(a) if every match is drawn, then every team gets 1 point per match and the total number of points distributed is 24x46x1 = 1104.
(b) if no match is drawn then one team gets 0 and one team gets 3 in every match, average per team 1.5, so the total number of points distributed is 24x46x1.5 = 1656.
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This has gotta be Mazi ....right ?
Do you have a spreadsheet Mc P ?
posted on 12/3/18
Read an interesting fact today which highlights that its a good job we had a great start to the season.
After 6 games we were 7 points ahead of Villa. Now we are 7 points ahead of Villa.
Over the last 30 games, Villa are top of the table on goal difference
posted on 12/3/18
And Fulham third five points behind and Cardiff a point further back.
Think the four best sides if we were doing a round robin today would be Wolves, Villa, Fulham and Boro.
posted on 12/3/18
Over the last 10 games, both Fulham and Cardiff have gained 11 points on us and Villa 10.
Still with some 'easy games' on paper which should cross the finishing line in either 1st or 2nd. Either one will do me.
posted on 12/3/18
Fantastic to see Stoke are still shat under the Lambert, six without a win now
posted on 12/3/18
You really don't like Lambert, do you mate? I don't think he was that bad to be honest.
posted on 12/3/18
Mathamatically, only Liverpool, Spurs and Man. Utd can catch City.
posted on 12/3/18
comment by wolfieintheSunshineState (U16306)
posted 16 minutes ago
You really don't like Lambert, do you mate? I don't think he was that bad to be honest.
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I think he is an absolute and it has zero to do with his management abilities(which are minimal) and everything to do with how he handled himself in his time with us and how he treated certain parts of the squad at a time when he should have been uniting not isolating players and showing a united front but instead he did the complete opposite, even targeting Mendes methods.
posted on 12/3/18
The difference now is 'night and day'.