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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 30
Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Villa Park
Birmingham, England
Saturday, 30 March 2024
Kick-off is at 18h30
Aston Villa will be looking to end a poor run of recent form against Wolves when they clash at Villa Park on Saturday, March 30.
The Villans are winless in their last six encounters with Wanderers, who held them to a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture at Molineux on October 8.
Unai Emery's side are hoping to fend off the challenge of Tottenham in the race for a top-four finish this season and they currently occupy the final UEFA Champions League spot.
Villa drew 1-1 with West Ham at the London Stadium on March 17 to go three points clear of Spurs, having seen them suffer a surprise 3-0 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage the previous day.
Wolves made it three wins in four games when they beat the Cottagers 2-1 in the Black Country on March 9 to close within one point of Brighton in ninth place.
The battle to finish in the top half of the Premier League table is closely contested with eight games left to play as just four points separate the Seagulls in eighth and the Cottagers in 12th.
In team news, Emery continues to be without long-term casualties Boubacar Kamara, Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings (all knee), while John McGinn misses out through suspension. Jacob Ramsey (ankle) and Matty Cash (hamstring) face late fitness tests. Opposition manager Gary O'Neil could welcome back Matheus Cunha (thigh), Craig Dawson (groin) and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (knee), but Pedro Neto and Hee-Chan Hwang (both thigh) are unavailable once more.
Emery felt the international break came at a good time for his squad ahead of an intense final two months and he is plotting to turn the tables on their Midlands rivals in this local derby.
"We are fourth and we are going to wait until game 32, 33 and 34 to set again our objective," the Spaniard said. "We are there and we have to be happy and consistent in our way.
"Now, we're going to stop for the break and we have more players going with their national teams, which is good because we are increasing the level within the squad.
"The other players and coaches will rest a little bit and then we have the new challenge at home against Wolverhampton in two weeks. I'm going to study from today thinking about that match."
O'Neil admits the final 10 games will be a challenge for his squad as his attacking options are thread-bare due to injuries.
"The Premier League is going to be really tough, from this moment on. I spoke about how big the Fulham win was. We've got no attackers. We've got Pablo Sarabia," he said.
"It's going to be really tough to win Premier League games because we're going to go to Aston Villa and they're going to have Ollie Watkins, they're going to have [Leon] Bailey, [Jacob] Ramsey, [Nicolo] Zaniolo coming off the bench, they're going to have [Youri] Tielemans.
"It's going to be a tough spell, but we're going to have to fight, we're going to have to scrap, and I hope the fans understand that."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Aston Villa wins - 0
Wolves wins - 3
Draws - 2
Premier League Matchday 30 fixtures:
Saturday, March 30
13h30: Newcastle United v West Ham United
16h00: Bournemouth v Everton
16h00: Chelsea v Burnley
16h00: Nottingham Forest v Crystal Palace
16h00: Sheffield United v Fulham
16h00: Tottenham Hotspur v Luton Town
18h30: Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers
21h00: Brentford v Manchester United
Sunday, March 31
14h00: Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion
16h30: Manchester City v Arsenal
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