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1 month ago
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Today’s match officials
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Referee: Andy Madley.
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Assistants: Nick Hopton and Craig Taylor.
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Fourth official: Tim Robinson.
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VAR: Matt Donohue.
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Assistant VAR: Wade Smith.
Those teams: Vitor Pereira makes three changes to the side that lost against Arsenal last Saturday. Toti, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Goncalo Guedes come into the starting line-up in place of Hugo Bueno, the suspended Joao Gomes and the injured Jorgen Strand Larsen.
There are also three changes to the Aston Villa side that drew with West Ham. Andres Garcia makes his debut for the club at right-back after arriving from Levante, while Lamare Bogarde and John McGinn are also in. They come in for the injured Matty Cash and Tyrone Mings, while Leon Bailey is among the substitutes.
Villa lining up Rashford deal
Aston Villa are close to agreeing a deal to sign Marcus Rashford on loan for the rest of the season, with Unai Emery driving the move to sign the out-of-favour Manchester United forward. Ben Fisher reports …
Wolves v Aston Villa line-ups
Wolves: Jose Sa, Doherty, Toti Gomes, Agbadou, Nelson Semedo, Andre Trindade, Bellegarde, Ait Nouri, Sarabia, Cunha, Goncalo Guedes.
Subs: Johnstone, Bueno, Hwang, Dawson, Rodrigo Gomes, Doyle, Forbs, Chirewa, Pedro Lima.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Garcia, Konsa, Bogarde, Digne, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Rogers, Ramsey, Watkins.
Subs: Olsen, Zych, Malen, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Onana, Bailey, Swinkels, Jimoh.
Early team news
Mario Lemina remains outside the Wolves first-team picture as he inches ever closer to the Molineux exit door. Reports yesterday suggest the midfielder is off to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Shabab, where he will play alongside his former teammate Daniel Podence.
Joao Gomes is suspended, but his namesake Toti could return from injury. Jorgen Strand Larsen is a major doubt, while long-term absentees Yerson Mosquera, Enso Gonzalez, Sasa Kalajdzic and Carlos Forbs all remain sidelined with knee problems. Boubacar Traore has recovered from his knee injury but has been ruled out with a dose of flu.
Aston Villa full-back Matty Cash is facing a month out with the calf injury that forced him off during his team’s midweek win over Celtic in the Champions League, while Amadou Onana, Tyrone Mings, Ross Barkley and Pau Torres are also out.
Donyell Malen could make his first start for Villa having been ineligible for selection against Celtic in midweek following his debut for the club off the bench against West Ham last Sunday.
Premier League: Wolves v Aston Villa
To Molineux, then, for a Black Country derby between two teams fighting for local bragging rights but with very different aims in mind when it comes to the bigger picture. Wolves are battling against relegation, while their visitors hoping to qualify for the Champions League for a second consecutive season.
Villa came from behind to run out fairly convincing winners in the corresponding fixture at Villa Park in September, but only after getting a rocket from their manager, Unai Emery, who was left visibly seething with rage by his team’s first-half performance.
Wolves manager Vitor Pereira was similarly angry last week when Joao Gomes picked up a daft second yellow card against Arsenal last weekend. Having picked up a booking in the first half, the Brazilian was kept on the pitch after assuring his manager he would not do anything rash and then proceeded to jump into a challenge with Jurrien Timber. Kick-off at Molineux is at 5.30pm (GMT) but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
