This weekend will see arguably the biggest Championship match of the season take place at Villa Park.
Aston Villa are set to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend, in what could well be a season-defining game for both Midlands teams.
A match between first and third at this stage in the Championship campaign is always going to be notable, but when you add in the fact that these two sides are local rivals, it reaches a whole new level. While Villa and Wolves have often been seen as ‘friendly’ neighbours in the same manner as Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion, things have taken a turn as of late.
Starting off with the accusations being thrown Wolves’ way regarding their work alongside Jorge Mendes, the rumours of Aston Villa being one of the teams to complain have heightened the sense of anticipation for this game.
While it may not necessarily be true, Villa supporters are intent on ‘getting one over’ on the Molineux faithful, especially given how dominant they have been throughout the course of the season.
With Birmingham City floundering and West Brom being on the verge of relegation, Wolves are the biggest local threat to Villa’s self-imposed standing of being the biggest club in the Midlands. While both could easily go up together, capitalising on their recent drop in form will be huge for their confidence.
Plus, and this cannot be understated, Wolves’ victory against Leeds last night took a huge weight off the shoulders of Nuno’s men.
They will obviously still go into the Villa game with the same amount of passion, but if they had have dropped points, the gap between themselves and the rest of the contenders would have looked even more precarious. Now they have got a win back under their belts, they are 10 points clear of Villa in third, and they have a squad with a renewed sense of confidence.
In addition to that, the race for second has never been tighter with Villa having to contend with both Cardiff City and Fulham for automatic promotion, and if Steve Bruce’s men slip up at Villa Park this weekend, it opens the door for the Bluebirds and the Cottagers to push Villa further away from that race.
Obtaining a spot in that top two is going to be so crucial for Villa because their lack of playoff experience in comparison to the teams around them is going to be a crucial factor once we reach the end of the season. Wolves, on the other hand, know that they are in the driving seat – but let it be known that while Villa are going to be even hungrier for the victory, Wolves will still come out fighting.
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