Aston Villa v Wolves: Old Gold appeal as Asian Handicap underdogs

• Villa stuttering on home soil

• Wolves impressing since Christmas

• Old Gold appeal as big Asian Handicap underdogs

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Aston Villa v Wolves
Saturday, 17:30
Live on Sky Sports Football

Aston Villa 1.695/7 remain fourth in the Premier League table after seeing Nicolo Zaniolo rescue a vital late point at West Ham before the international break. The stalemate ensured the Villans are three points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham, though Unai Emery's outfit were off the pace and found it hard to break down the Hammers' stubborn rearguard.

Villa did increase the tempo after the break as Ezri Konsa and Youri Tielmans had efforts palmed away by home goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, but Emery's side were unable to find a second goal and were then forced to endure a lengthy VAR check to deny the hosts a winner in added-time with the Spaniard admitting his side improved after the interval.

Emery said, "We didn't control the game in the first half. We were not progressing to impose our position. The second half, we deserve it more than the first half. Overall, I think tactically in the second half we dominated and imposed our position. We wanted to win but the draw is good, and we have to accept it. We are still in a strong position."

John McGinn remains suspended and is joined on the sidelines by Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings, though Matty Cash and Jacob Ramsey may return to the fold this weekend.

Wolves 5.24/1 suffered a morale-sapping 100^th-minute defeat against Coventry in an FA Cup classic before the international break, missing out on a place in the semi-finals. The Old Gold trailed for much of the second-half before a dramatic late turnaround saw Gary O'Neil's men lead going into stoppage-time. Only for Coventry to turn the game on its head, again.

Wolves have been pushing for Europe but, for long spells, struggled going forward against the Sky Blues without their first-choice frontline. Whilst Matheus Cunha is on course to return this weekend, top goalscorer Hwang Hee-Chan is expected to be sidelined for another month with Pedro Neto potentially out for the rest of the season.

Speaking on the Coventry reverse, O'Neil said: "Coventry met us on a day where we weren't at full strength, and they were able to capitalise on it - they deserved to win. We know how small the squad is and how many players we have missing, so that plays a big part. But we also have to take our chances and be better in certain areas of the field."

Wolves are hoping to have Craig Dawson and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde back in the squad, along with Cunha, though the latter is unlikely to be fit enough to feature from the off.

Undervalued underdogs

Aston Villa have struggled for positive results in their recent rivalry with Wolves - the hosts are winless in six Premier League meetings against the Old Gold (W0-D3-L3) and have also failed to collect top honours in each of their past seven head-to-head contests at Villa Park.

Despite their eye-catching campaign, Aston Villa's home form has deserted them in recent weeks. Only Sheffield United (1) have collected fewer home points in the EPL this calendar year with Villa suffering three defeats in their last four Villa Park fixtures (W1-D0-L3). Meanwhile, the Villans have managed just two home clean sheets since August.

In contrast, only the breakaway top-three have earned more Premier League points than Wolves since Christmas Eve (W7-D1-L3) and the Old Gold have proven stubborn opposition under Gary O'Neil. The visitors have been beaten by more than a solitary strike in just five of their 28 top-flight tussles, with the same outcome occurring only twice on their travels.

With that in-mind, I'm happy to support Wolves +1 Asian Handicap at 1.834/5. The visitors might be missing key cogs in forward areas here, yet only one of their eight encounters against top-six teams have resulted in a wide-margin defeat with Wanderers also managing to get on the scoresheet in 10 of their 14 away days.

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