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Friday will be a big day.
In the evening, Villa have the West Midlands derby against Wolves.
Over lunch, thousands of Villa supporters will be taking part in their latest round of mouse-clicking Olympics, as the Europa League draw decides whether they will be heading to France, Spain, Greece or Serbia less than a fortnight later.
The options will have been reduced to two by then. Like a transfer window, the better-resourced will have made their moves early, hoping they read the small-print about free cancellation correctly. Supporting Villa home or away has been a thrilling adventure in the last three years, although as pointedly noted on this page this week, not a cheap one.
At least all that will help take minds off any nerves being felt before the shorter journey – in distance, anyway, if not in time in the Friday rush-hour – over to Molineux. The league table clearly tells us that this is not a fixture Villa should fear. Earlier in the season, teams playing Wolves could be confident that even if they weren't playing well, the route to goal would probably open up soon enough anyway. Under Rob Edwards' guidance, however, Wolves have at least become less accommodating.
That may be problematic. Villa have conceded points despite apparently dominating recent home games against Everton, Brentford and Leeds, and there is no reason to think Wolves will be especially adventurous against them just because the game is not at Villa Park.
The former Villa winger Steve Froggatt floated a solution on Tuesday's BBC Radio WM Football Phone-In, even if only a temporary one while the first-choice midfield races to recover fitness. Noting that Villa were much more effective against Leeds after Tammy Abraham joined Ollie Watkins, Froggatt advocated a switch away from Unai Emery's usual preferred shape, for now at least.
He explained: "Villa are struggling in the middle of the park. Youri Tielemans is not playing. If you watch Morgan Rogers in isolation, he's turning in to players again like he did at the start of the season. Tielemans is a genius, he gets the ball out between the lines so quickly, Rogers is turned and running at players.
"So, if you can't make it work with the three you've got in there, make it work however you can until the big boys can come back in."
Emery and Villa's supporters have a lot of route-planning to do this week. By Saturday morning, they might all know more about where they're heading.
Tell us - do you think two strikers up top is the right short-term move?
And tune into The West Midlands Football Phone-In from 18:00 on weeknights
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