Key stats
- Wolves have lost their last six games in the Premier League; their last joint-longest losing streak was from May 16th, 2021, to August 29th, 2021.
- Nine of Villa's 16 Premier League goals this season have been scored from outside the box - the most of any side in 2025/26.
- Wolves have failed to score in their last four games in the Premier League, a run of 455 minutes without a goal.
Highlights
Analysis
Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made some excellent saves to register a clean sheet for the home side.
Villa were dominant throughout the contest and deserved to take all three points.
Match report
Given that five of Wolves’ seven PL goals this term had arrived before HT, a quick start appeared essential if Rob Edwards’ side were to spring a big upset here.
And after surviving an early scare when Lucas Digne’s free-kick deflected off the bar, the visitors were arguably the more threatening side in a first half that produced very little in the way of clear-cut chances.
Jørgen Strand Larsen thought he’d broken the deadlock on the quarter-hour, but after sweeping home from Jackson Tchatchoua’s cutback, his celebrations were cut short by the offside flag as Jhon Arias had interfered with Emiliano Martínez.
Villa’s goalkeeper was the reason for parity at the break, as in the first minute of stoppage time, he saved from Strand Larsen before making a miraculous stop from the subsequent corner to tip Yerson Mosquera’s fierce header against the bar.
A subdued Villa Park atmosphere reflected the home team’s insipid performance, and things could’ve been even worse just after the restart if not for Pau Torres’ perfectly-timed sliding tackle to deny Strand Larsen a tap-in.
It looked as though it would take something special for Villa to find a breakthrough, and so it proved as Boubacar Kamara lashed into the top corner from the edge of the area.
Wolves were left feeling aggrieved given that João Gomes was off the pitch injured when the goal went in, but things could’ve been even worse in the immediate aftermath as John McGinn and Donyell Malen both went close to double the hosts’ advantage.
Falling behind seemed to suck the belief out of Wolves, who succumbed to a sixth PL away defeat of the season, all of which came without reply.
Their relegation seems inevitable with a nine-point gap to safety, though they can take solace from the fact that none of the four sides above them won this weekend either. Villa, meanwhile, move into the top three, if only temporarily, thanks to an eighth successive victory on home turf.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa)
Post-match comments
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery to Sky Sports:
"Great job. Each match is difficult. They were feeling uncomfortable and we needed to be passionate and respect them in the moment.
"We needed to be passionate and keep being consistent. Sometimes we didn't win.
"We are in the dressing room speaking about it. We continued dominating in the manner we did. We fared better in the second half and we had some better chances than in the first half."
Wolves manager Rob Edwards to BBC Sport:
"What I saw was a really good performance and a team that showed commitment. It was a derby game and the players recognised that - they showed a lot of fight.
"I'm happy with the performance but disappointed with the result.
"The difference between last week and this week was really big. It was fine margins."