Aston Villa vs. Wolves team news: Ollie Watkins, Marshall Munetsi decisions made for West Midlands derby

Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery has made the surprise decision to drop Ollie Watkins for Sunday's West Midlands derby with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Although the 29-year-old has struggled in front of goal this season, 11 of his 12 Premier League appearances have been from the first XI.

However, on this occasion, Donyell Malen is rewarded for his recent form with just a fourth top-flight start of 2025-26.

After seven alterations were made for the Europa League fixture with Young Boys on Thursday, Emery makes just the one change from the team that defeated Leeds United last weekend.

As a result, the likes of Amadou Onana and Jadon Sancho remain on the substitutes' bench, while Liverpool loanee Harvey Elliott again misses out on a place in the squad.

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Wolves make three changes for Aston Villa game

Meanwhile, Rob Edwards has made three changes to the Wolves XI that started the 2-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace in what was his first game in charge.

Yerson Mosquera has been brought into the back three with Ladislav Krejci missing out, presumably through injury.

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is recalled in place of Marshall Munetsi, while Jhon Arias returns in the final third at the expense of Tolu Arokodare.

Mateus Mane is a notable inclusion on the substitutes' bench, the youngster taking the place of Fer Lopez.

Aston Villa XI: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Tielemans, Kamara; McGinn, Rogers, Buendia; Malen

Subs: Bizot, Lindelof, Maatsen, Bogarde, Barkley, Onana, Guessand, Watkins, Sancho

Wolverhampton Wanderers XI: Johnstone; Agbadou, Mosquera, T.Gomes; Tchatchoua, Andre, J.Gomes, Wolfe; Bellegarde, Arias; Strand Larsen

Subs: Sa, H.Bueno, S.Bueno, Munetsi, Hwang, Arokodare, Chierwa, Hoever, Mane