Wolves are back in Premier League action today – and Aston Villa captain John McGinn has shared his thoughts ahead of the game.
Rob Edwards kicked off with a defeat in his first game last weekend against Crystal Palace, and another tough game lies in wait today at Villa Park.
Wolves are currently nine points adrift of safety, and cannot afford for that gap to increase any further.
Anything can happen in a derby…
Since Wolves and Aston Villa have been back in the Premier League (2019), Wolves have won six of their 12 games against the Villans (50%).
Edwards has had better preparation going into this game than against Palace, as before that game, players arrived back late from international duty.
Hopefully this will mean a more cohesive and effective performance at Villa Park. But Villa are in fine fettle at the moment and are strong favourites to win.
But John McGinn has been speaking ahead of today’s game, and was actually quite complimentary about Wolves.
John McGinn praises Wolves and Rob Edwards
The Opta supercomputer has given Wolves a mere 12.5% chance of beating Aston Villa today.
Certainly, Wolves have a tough job coming up against one of the most in-form teams in the Premier League, and it will take something special to get all three points.
But for John McGinn, there is zero room for complacency – he is adamant Wolves will be right up for this game despite morale and confidence probably being low.
He said (via E&S): “They always give us a good game.
“They’ve got talented players, a good young manager who we know, Rob Edwards, and they’ll be right up for it.
“Derbies are always exciting and tasty, so we know they’ll be at it.”
Unai Emery concurs with McGinn about Wolves
McGinn is not the only Villa representative to have been complimentary about Wolves ahead of this game.
Earlier this week, Unai Emery was also keen to talk up Wolves as a tough opponent, saying: “My respect is massive. Firstly, because with our experiences against Wolves, Premier League, always was very difficult. Even winning, last year, was difficult, two years ago, and always, they are performing very well here.
“Maybe it’s a small derby, and we can feel how difficult it’s being playing against every team, and being Wolves with the moment they are, they will need to compete and to try to start getting more points.”
Rob Edwards and Unai Emery disagree on the rivalry of the West Midlands derby 😂
Wolves are in an awful spot right now, and have another very tough game today.
But if Edwards can somehow mastermind a win, then that could be a huge catalyst for the Old Gold.
Confidence and morale have been on the floor lately, but a scalp today would do absolute wonders for the dressing room.
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