'Think they'll struggle' - Pundits all agree on one thing ahead of Wolves vs Aston Villa clash

The return of the Premier League is almost upon us we gear up for an interesting all-Midlands affair between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa.

Wolverhampton Wanderers will be looking to bounce back to winning ways while also completing the double against their local rivals Aston Villa at Molineux this afternoon (3pm).

Steven Gerrard's Villa will head to the Black Country on the back of two consecutive defeats to West Ham and Arsenal. While Wolves will be keen to get the job done, they will have to do so without key duo in Raul Jimenez and Ruben Neves.

Jimenez will be serving his first out of a two-game suspension today, after receiving a red card in the defeat against Leeds United, last time out. Portuguese midfielder Neves, meanwhile, is recovering from a knee injury sustained in that game and is set to return to action in May.

Wolves claimed all three points in the reverse fixture at Villa Park in October, after trailing 2-0. A 15-minute spell of excellence from Lage's side saw the side produce a 3-2 comeback. Romain Saiss, Conor Coady and Neves were the goal scorers.

Ahead of the game, pundits have delivered their own predictions in what they believe will be a close contest. Here is how they see the game panning out - and all reckon Villa will avoid defeat...

BetVictor: "I don’t know what happened to Wolves against Leeds. They were in complete control before Jimenez’s red card.

"Still, they should have performed better even with 10 men. To collapse the way they did was very unlike them.

"Villa remain an inconsistent side. There’s so much quality here, but they probably don’t show it enough.

"There wasn’t too much between them and Arsenal in the 1-0 defeat, but they didn’t create enough. I don’t think there’s