Aston Villa host Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday after kicking off their Champions League campaign with a bang.
Villa recorded a comfortable 3-0 victory over Young Boys to move joint top of the Champions League table.
That was following three wins from four in the Premier League, with Unai Emery switching his focus back to England’s top flight this weekend.
Aston Villa face a Wolves side who have collected just a point from their opening four games but they do hold a strong recent record in this fixture, losing three of their last 10 meetings.
Many people expect the Villans to cruise to a comfortable three points – including Paul Merson – who has predicted Villa to continue their excellent start to the season.
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Chris Sutton issues Aston Villa vs Wolves score prediction
Considering the contrast in form between the two teams, it isn’t a surprise that few expect Wolves to take anything away from Villa Park, and that applies to Chris Sutton.
The former Norwich striker believes that, while Emery must find a ‘balancing act’ across multiple competitions, he doesn’t think the players will be affected much by their win over Young Boys on Tuesday night.
Predicting Villa to comfortably win 2-0, Sutton told BBC Sport: “Villa boss Unai Emery has to find a balancing act with their Champions League campaign and any chopping and changing to his team, which is a much bigger ask than when they reached the Europa Conference League semi-finals last season.
“I didn’t captain Ollie Watkins in my Fantasy team last week, when he scored a double against Everton, but Jhon Duran coming on to score Villa’s winner in that game shows the depth in their squad to cope.
“So, I don’t feel they will be affected by their win over Young Boys in Switzerland on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see how much Emery rotates his players, but I can only see a Villa win.”
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Ollie Watkins vs Jhon Duran
Emery currently has the luxury of two quality strikers to choose from for the visit of Wolves.
Ollie Watkins finally got off the mark this term after scoring a brace against Everton while Jhon Duran’s stunning winner in that match will live long in the memory.
Watkins was also unfortunate not to follow up his strikes in last weekend’s win with at least another in Switzerland as his goal was wrongly ruled out for handball.
The 28-year-old was substituted for Duran and was seen icing his ankle on the sidelines however, Emery confirmed that Watkins had no injury and was okay.
That comment points towards him starting this weekend, although Duran – who has scored three goals from the bench – is bearing down on him.
It’s unlikely that Emery would drop Watkins, especially in a West Midlands derby, but Duran must wonder what more he has to do to start a game for Villa.
