Wolves have had quite the issue with discipline this season, which isn’t that surprising given that they’ve been the punching bag of the Premier League for most of the season. Rob Edwards’ side have committed more fouls than any other side in the Premier League this season (13.4 per game), resulting in 57 yellow cards (2.03 per game).

Wolves exceeded both of these averages in the initial league meeting between these sides, committing 21 fouls and picking up four yellow cards - showing how the history and rivalry of this fixture can lead to increased aggression on both sides of the pitch.

Furthermore, Aston Villa are one of the strongest teams in the league when it comes to drawing fouls and cards; they’ve drawn 2+ cards from the opposition in 22 of their 28 Premier League matches this season.

Wolves have picked up 2+ cards in eight of their last 10 matches in the Premier League, so being resigned to relegation hasn’t really affected their aggressive approach when without the ball in the Premier League under the guidance of Rob Edwards.

Joao Gomes is usually associated with committing fouls, but he’s very strong when it comes to drawing them too.

Gomes committed three fouls when the sides clashed earlier in the season, drawing one foul from Villa’s midfield on that occasion. Gomes can antagonise the opposition very easily with his aggressive approach, so he is usually targeted by the opposition to get one back on him.

Gomes has drawn 30 fouls across his 23 starts in the Premier League this season, working out to an average of 1.33 fouls won per 90. His main opponents here are likely to be a duo of Douglas Luiz and Amadou Onana.

Luiz has been pretty aggressive since joining Villa on loan in January, committing eight fouls across his nine Premier League appearances (1.10 per 90), while Onana has a natural physical advantage over Gomes, which could see him overstep the mark on a few occasions.

Amadou Onana has emerged as one of the most complete midfielders in the Premier League this season. I think more people would be talking about him if his campaign hadn’t been affected by injuries. He’s only managed to start 15 games in the Premier League this term, but has been an effective player for Villa in all of these matches.

Onana’s physical profile makes him a very difficult player to knock off the ball; he’s won 20 fouls across his 15 starts in the Premier League this season (1.49 per 90) and plays for a Villa side that have won more fouls than any other side in the Premier League since Unai Emery took charge of the club.

This matches up quite well with Wolves being the most aggressive side in the Premier League this term; they committed 21 fouls when the sides last met, with both Tielemans and Kamara drawing 2+ fouls as Villa’s central midfielders in that clash. Onana came off the bench in that game and was fouled in his 15-minute cameo, offering further promise that he’ll be hauled down at least once here.

Morgan Rogers had three shots when these sides met earlier in the season, with one of those attempts finding the target. He’s Villa’s joint top scorer in the Premier League this year with eight goals to his name - already matching the goal tally he managed across 37 appearances in the Premier League last season.

Rogers has taken 59 shots across his 27 starts in the Premier League this season, working out to an average of 2.20 shots per 90. This is significant because it’s a massive rise from the 1.58 shots per 90 that Rogers was averaging last season, suggesting that he’s been instructed to take on more efforts at goal by Unai Emery, something which is directly reflected in his current goal tally.

24 of his 59 attempts have found the target (0.90 per 90), which is also a rise on the 0.58 shots on target per 90 he averaged across the entirety of last campaign. Rogers has had a shot on target in four of his last five Premier League appearances, and a Wolves side that have conceded 30 goals across their 14 home matches in the top flight this term should give him opportunities to find the target again.

I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a player more suited to what Unai Emery wants from his wide players than Emi Buendia. Emery prefers his wide players to act more as inside 10s; the width is often held by the fullbacks, which allows Villa to be very direct when building through the thirds.

Buendia has struggled with injuries since joining Villa, but it is obvious that he has the quality to play at this level. Buendia has registered seven goal contributions across his 15 starts in the Premier League this season, with this record rising to 12 goal contributions when looking at his displays across all competitions.

Only Ollie Watkins (9) and Morgan Rogers (13) have registered more goal contributions for Aston Villa in the Premier League this season, though Buendia’s record is slightly more standout as he’s played fewer games than both Watkins and Rogers, and has a stronger goal contribution per take rate than Watkins (0.46-0.39).

I think cards are a solid angle for this game; it’s usually quite a hotly contested affair, and Douglas Luiz is a player who can easily get sucked into the chaos of the fixture.

I’d explore taking this as a single too; it’s pretty generous at 4.0, considering that Luiz has collected two yellow cards across his nine starts for Aston Villa since joining the club on loan in January.

Luiz can get sucked too far into the emotion of the game. He picked up two yellow cards across just 516 minutes of action in Serie A before joining Aston Villa and picked up 12 yellow cards across his 35 Premier League appearances prior to leaving Villa in the 23/24 season.

Luiz also maintained a foul average of 1.53 fouls committed per 90 in that season, so he is a player who can overstep the mark in this competitive fixture.

Only Andre (9) has picked up more cards in the Premier League this season than Joao Gomes (8). Gomes finished pretty high up on this list last season, too, collecting nine yellow cards and one red card across his 35 Premier League appearances.

Gomes is probably the most aggressive midfielder in the Premier League, though Sasa Lukic may rival him for that tag. He’s committed 52 fouls across his 23 starts for Wolves in the Premier League this term, working out to an average of 2.31 per 90. His tackle numbers show just how much he relishes the ugly part of the game, with Gomes maintaining a very high average of 3.37 tackles per 90 in the top flight this term.

Gomes will be facing up against the most fouled side in the Premier League here, and plays for a Wolves side that have committed more fouls than any other side in the Premier League this season (13.4 per game), with only four teams picking up more yellow cards than the Wanderers this term.

Wolves have committed more fouls than any other side in the Premier League this season, averaging 13.4 fouls committed per game. 

Joao Gomes has long been one of the most aggressive players in the Premier League and I can see him struggling a little with the rotations that Villa put together in the middle of the park.

Midfield was an active battleground when these sides faced off earlier in the season, both Gomes and Andre committed three fouls each while Kamara and Tielemans managed to draw two fouls each.

Villa’s midfield set up is likely to consist of Amadou Onana and Douglas Luiz - which actually looks like a more appealing set up to draw fouls from Wolves’ midfield than the duo of Tielemans and Kamara. 

Gomes has committed 52 fouls across his 23 Premier League starts this season, working out to an average of 2.31 per 90 - so he is regularly committing at least two fouls a game, which is reflected in his recent matches with Gomes committing 2+ fouls in three of his last five Premier League appearances.

Aston Villa have drawn more fouls than any other side in the Premier League this season, coming in just under 13.0 fouls per game. 

Onana was fouled once off the bench when these sides met earlier in the season, and that was in just a 15 minute cameo in the final stages of the game. Villa drew 21 fouls from Wolves in that game, so we can expect the home side to exceed their foul average again here given how strong Villa are when it comes to winning fouls.

Onana looks to be the most physically dominant player in Villa’s midfield here, and he is a tough player to knock off the ball with his size and ability to travel with the ball through central areas.

Onana has drawn 20 fouls across his 15 starts in the Premier League this season, working out to an average of 1.49 fouls won per 90. I’d expect this to increase given the team foul patterns of these sides, and Onana facing up against Gomes who is one of the more aggressive players in the Wolves side.