Beat Wolves on Friday and follow it up with a home victory over Chelsea and Unai Emery’s team may well find themselves with a 12-point advantage over the London club, depending on how the latter fare at Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday.
Yet to give themselves even the opportunity of delivering a near knockout punch to their top-five rivals, Villa must first make sure they do not make a mess of the set-up at Molineux.
Friday’s fixture sees almost all of the pressure weighted on the visitors.
True, Wolves still need two more points to avoid the ignominy of being the Premier League’s worst-ever team. Their supporters would love nothing more than it to be achieved while also damaging the dreams of their near neighbours.