There is no doubting that something has changed at Wolves and they look every bit the Club that can call the Premier League home. It's quite frustrating in all honesty. Where I went to school, there was on Wolves fan and I never understood. But I was very young.
But today, they are doing it the right way and I'm fairly confident it's numbers that have got them to where they are. It's not the manager or a particular player, but a system and that system begins working a long time before the players walk onto the pitch.
And it's nice to see common sense win. So, all the nice things written, this is still a game we need to win because Wolves are the side right in front of us. Now, even with the game in hand, we'd still be four points behind them, but that puts us in contention to catch them. And I still believe we can finish eighth this season.
And you know what, on current form we're better and seeing as I mention current form, based on the last six we are due a defeat or a draw. It's very rare that we have four wins out of six and that is top six form. But that isn't to say that it can't happen.
It's just me and my ramblings.
Right and before tomorrow, I hope you've noticed that there are no ads on the site any more. I'm doing this because a few of you have mentioned it. I'm also not doing this for free, so I've opened up a way for you to donate here if you want to.
I'm hoping we can continue to keep the site ad free and there is no time limit on it, but if donations don't cover we'll have to bring ads back. But I might be able to bring ads back only for those that haven't donated, I'm still looking into it.
And that ad from Luke above, is not charged. Sometimes Luke sends some merchandise we can give away, so he gets the ad space.
So until tomorrow, have a nice Friday. I'm drinking a G&T, thinking about getting very drunk and falling asleep on the sofa. Until tomorrow.
Match facts from the BBC
Head-to-head
- Wolves have won three of their last five Premier League games against Aston Villa (D1, L1), as many as they had in the previous 26 top-flight meetings.
- Villa are vying to win consecutive matches away to Wolves for the first time since 2012.
- There have only been two home wins in the 13 Premier League matches between these sides (four draws, seven away victories).
Wolverhampton Wanderers
- This is Wolves' 2,500th home league match (excluding play-off fixtures). They are the third club to reach this landmark, after Preston North End (2,543) and Burnley (2,504).
- Wolves have earned 21 Premier League points this calendar year - only Liverpool, with 28 points, have a better record.
- Bruno Lage's team have failed to score in eight top-flight home matches this season, a joint high with Brighton.
- They have conceded just 6.9% of their shots faced in the Premier League this season (26 goals conceded from 377 shots), the lowest such rate in the competition.
- Hwang Hee-chan scored four times in his first six Premier League appearances but has only netted once in his subsequent 16 games.
Aston Villa
- Aston Villa have lost consecutive Premier League matches for the third time under Steven Gerrard - they have yet to lose three in a row since his appointment in November.
- Seven of the Villans' eight league defeats under Gerrard have been by a single goal, with the exception a 3-1 home loss to Chelsea.
- Villa have lost 15 of their 29 league matches in 2021-22, equalling their total number of defeats last season.
- They have lost 10 of their 12 top-flight fixtures this season against teams currently above them in the table - the exceptions were a win away to Manchester United and a draw at home versus the same opponents.
- Danny Ings has scored in his last two games against Wolves but has ended on the losing side both times.
- Only three players have netted in three consecutive Premier League matches against an opponent and lost each time - Matt Le Tissier versus Oldham (1993-1994), Rod Wallace against Norwich City (1993-1994) and Ashley Barnes versus Arsenal (2018-2019).