Wolves captain Nelson Semedo has "200%" confidence that his team will pull clear of the Premier League's relegation zone, as they prepare to host rivals Aston Villa on Saturday.

Following last week's 1-0 loss to Arsenal, Wolves have suffered four straight Premier League defeats after starting Vitor Pereira's reign with seven points from three matches.

They have already lost five straight Premier League games once this season, under Gary O'Neil. 

The only team to have runs of five consecutive defeats under different managers in a season and survive relegation was West Ham in 2006-07 (Alan Pardew and Alan Curbishley).

Meanwhile, Wolves have been relegated from the top flight in both of the previous instances in which they started a calendar year with four consecutive losses, in 1906 and 1982.

With Villa, Liverpool and Bournemouth up next for Wolves, relegation fears are mounting, but Semedo is certain they will get out of trouble.

"My belief in this group is 200%. I know everybody's working super hard to get out of this situation," Semedo told the club's website.

"I know the staff is working really hard as well, and they have helped us a lot since the day they arrived. I believe 100% in this team.

"I know we have a great team with great players. We have been playing against very good teams, it's true, but I'm sure that we're going to work hard and we're going to do better."

Taking on Villa at home on Saturday.  pic.twitter.com/eSSZg9afKl

— Wolves (@Wolves) January 29, 2025

Villa, meanwhile, clinched automatic qualification for the Champions League's last 16 with a thrilling 4-2 victory over Celtic on Wednesday.

Unai Emery's side are eighth in the Premier League, four points adrift of the top four. They will be confident of victory, having never lost a league game against a team starting the day in the relegation zone under the Spaniard (13 wins, five draws).

Morgan Rogers, who scored a hat-trick in Europe on Wednesday, said: "We had to dig deep, we know we can, we do it in the Premier League every week. 

"We thoroughly deserve it. We've got the hunger and the drive and we've got a manager who pushes us every day."

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

Wolves – Emmanuel Agbadou

Agbadou won more duels than any other Premier League player on matchday 22 (18), including seven of the nine he contested in the air.

Wolves will hope Agbadou can help solve their set-piece problems, as they have conceded 19 set-piece goals (excluding penalties) this term. 

The earliest point at which a team has shipped 20 in a single Premier League campaign is Tottenham's 25 games in 2007-08.

Aston Villa – Ollie Watkins

Last weekend, Watkins became the second Villa player to be directly involved in 100 Premier League goals when he teed up Jacob Ramsey against West Ham, with his 39th assist in the competition (61 goals, Gabriel Agbonlahor also has 100).

Watkins, who was the subject of a bid from Arsenal earlier this week, has been involved in at least 15 goals in each of his last three Premier League campaigns (21 in 2022-23, 32 in 2023-24, 15 in 2024-25). 

He is one of three Villa players to achieve that feat, after Dwight Yorke (1995-96 to 1997-98) and Agbonlahor (2007-08 to 2009-10).

MATCH PREDICTION – ASTON VILLA WIN

Having lost three of their first four Premier League home games against Aston Villa (one draw), Wolves have now lost just one of their last five against them at Molineux, winning three and drawing one.

Villa, though, have a chance to record their first league double over Wolves since 2003-04, having won the return fixture 3-1 at Villa Park.

In the Premier League, Emery has lost just one of 29 games against sides placed 18th, 19th or 20th, losing 3-2 to Southampton as Arsenal boss in December 2018.

If Wolves are to escape the drop, they simply must improve defensively. 

They have conceded 52 goals in 23 league games this term, with their average of 2.26 per match their worst in any league season since 1932-33 (96 in 42 games, 2.29). They did narrowly avoid relegation from the First Division that season, though.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Wolves – 28.2%

Aston Villa – 47.5%

Draw – 24.3%