Wolves will enter their fifth consecutive game against a team lower than them in the Premiership today when they face Brighton and Hove Albion at Molineux, and will be hoping for their third victory against these teams.
Wolves ideally need to win today to establish themselves in 12th place in the League, following the success of Newcastle and Crystal Palace below them. The potential still exists - however remotely - for a Top Ten finish which would bely their generally poor performance in the League this season.
Injuries have of course played a major part in the under-par achievements of the team this season, and continue to do so. Apart from the long standing injuries to Raul Jiminez, Jonny Castro Otto, Marcal and Pedro Neto, Willy Boly is still suffering from the longer term effects of having Covid 19 and is unavailable for this game. However Joao Moutinho has recovered from his ankle injury and may return. Coach Nuno Espirito Santo has admtted there are other injury worries but refused to elaborate in his Press Conference. It must be hoped that the injury which forced Rayan Ait-Nouri from the field at West Brom has now improved as we are fast running out of replacements!! Fans will doubtless also be hoping to see further appearances from some of the younger players such as Vitinha, Kilman and Otosowie.
The performances of Brighton in recent games has attracted praise for their Manager Graham Potter, and they would now appear to be safe from relegation after spending much of the season near the bottom. Adam Lallana is unlikely to be fit to play, and Tariq Lamptey remains a long-term absentee.
Wolves have struggled to achieve a win against Brighton in recent seasons, scoring four draws and a loss in the last three seasons. Most notable was the 3 - 3 result at the Amex in January after Wolves were 3 -1 ahead at half time.
This game is the early kick-off for the Sunday games, starting at 12:00. It - for the second time in three weeks - will be screened by BBC1. Our referee will be Jon Moss with Andre Marriner on VAR Duty
This board will carry updates for the benefit of anyone unable to watch the game, and members are encouraged to post their own observations
Never beat them in the top flight, another team called Albion, we don’t beat sides in blue stripes (Albion, Albion, Huddersfield etc), a repeat KO time of the Burnley nightmare. Yes, I’m feeling positive!! I have seen us beat them though, the last time infact, New Year’s Day 2016.
It can be done!!
Oh, yeah, and get Kilman in 👍 otherwise not too many changes from last week - unless unknown injuries enforce other selections.
Nuno was asked whether the players on loan had anything to prove this week, and replied that they do so on the practice pitch. Many fans have been calling out for the youngsters to be given a chance and he has answered both challenges with today's team selection, presumably thinking that he has nothing to lose. Five changes to the starting Xl with Joao back in, and Semedo, Donk, Saiss and Traore dropping to the bench. An interesting move - the only one I worry about coming up with the goods is MGW. Line-up:
Interesting front four, could be quite creative and hopefully produce opportunities for Fabio.
Not a place on the subs bench for Owen Otasowie which is a shame.
Theo Corbeanu must be hoping for his chance even though Jose is also on the bench.
Time to step up to the mark for MGW or he could well be on his way this summer.
Captain Coady’s voice can be heard across the park at all times supporting his young team mates..
Good spell of attacking play by BHA ends with Hoever conceding a corner. Once again Lewis Dunk converts a corner past Rui and CC
Wolves 0 BHA 1
Another awkward ball for Hoever to deal with goes for another BHA corner which crosses the whole area. Good defending though this time from Hoever after Vitinha lost the ball in midfield
Half time and frankly it’s quite difficult to see why BHA have struggled so badly this season. They have a well deserved lead after Dunk scored from a corner with another good header against us, but not surprising as we put little players up against their defenders in the area.
We have attacked but shown no real threat up front. We are certainly missing the threat that Traore presents for us as at least he moves forward
Wolves 0 BHA 1
First 5 minutes looked promising but all Brighton since.
Just a matter of who Traore replaces, probably MGW.
Have reverted to backwards and sideways play which bores me rigid, if there was a crowd there the team would know of the dissatisfaction very quickly.
Moutinho seems off the pace and the rest of the team have their heads down. Need a good talking to at half time break.
Max Kilman steps up & takes a left footed shot which rebounds off Sanchez. Then MGW gets a shot away on the right which gets a corner. BHA having to defend for a while
Good run by Fabio into the area until robbed by Burn for a corner. Once again Joao & Hoever waste it between them. Makes no sense at all repetitively doing this
Good play by Fabio ends with a shot from Adama for a corner. Short corner again which MGW ends up putting over too high. Max gets the first yellow card for a foul on Maupay
All over and after a very poor first half when BHA were dominant we have put in our usual second half shift to earn a 2-1 win and a long, long overdue win over Brighton. The sending off of Lewis Dunk had a big impact but was well deserved after Fabio headed towards goal.
A very good game for us in the end and we can only hope that Nuno has seen what he hoped to from the youngsters.. I can’t believe MGW scored after a generally poor game from him.
Maupay has just said something angrily to the ref and has been shown a red card, after Jon Moss had shown none all season he has shown two today!!!
Wolves 2 Brighton 1
Villa v Man United just kicking off. If Villa lose they will only bec2 points ahead of us with one game in hand. We still have a chance to finish in the Top Ten
Three points gratefully received.
We should have expected to beat Brighton with 11 men on the pitch instead we didn’t really gain an upper hand until they were reduced to 10. Defence needs a shake up, I know that Boly is sadly missed but we have no real strength in depth for those positions.
No real stand out performances although Traore brought something extra to the party which made the difference in the end.
Hoever was quite efficient as was Kilman, Vitinha a bit subdued today, RAN improving with every passing game as is Fabio, MGW must be so relieved after a lacklustre performance.
This match gave Nuno a chance to have a look at some of the youngsters so I guess some will be bought or returned/sold.
Tougher tests on the way but at least we are safe, will be interesting to see if youngsters are tested again.
Cheshire wolf Glad you’ve managed to be in the garden again Ivy. Guess what score I forecasted today???
I’,m guessing 2-1??!
11 v 11 it was difficult to see how we might seriously get involved. That first half wasn’t great at all and thoroughly disappointing, yet again. Second best everywhere on the pitch. As for the short corners, don’t get me going on them. Pathetic!
At least we showed a bit of intent at the start of the second half and precise passing ended up with the definite sending off. Whilst you could say we were fortunate to win this one, when one man up, you expect the team with 11 to press and keep the pressure up and today we did. From that perspective you couldn’t ask for more …… a great and much needed injection of purpose from Traore seemed to turn the match. Very happy with his goal. So tight but a great intricate 1-2 with Silva and a lovely Traore finish. Marvellous.
Serious wastage from MGW, where for a moment, his name was mud, followed by another lovely finish to get MGW and us out of jail. MGW was really buzzing in his post match interview …… good for him.
Brilliant 3 points for Wolves, however unlikely it was at half time. I’ll take them for sure and didn’t rub my mates nose in it too much at FT ….. much.
Spurs, Everton away, then Man Utd at home. It’ll be a tough ending to the season on recent form but I did wonder whether we’d get close to 45 points a few weeks ago.
It's not until you can't watch a match that you truly appreciate the updates. Thanks everyone, a good effort all round.
I've caught about 3 minutes of highlights. Dunk's sending-off I would say was fully justified. Agree with the comments about our marking at corners and about the short corners we take ourselves.
Terrible miss from MGW but, fair play to him, he finished well for his goal.
I would be interested to know what anyone thought of Vitinha's performance as I was impressed by him against WBA and also Kilman, who I think has been unlucky not to start more often.
Hi Andy,
Vitinha was steady throughout without setting the game on fire, seems more confident the more playing time he gets. Kilman didn’t really put a foot wrong during the match although he was part of a defence that went woefully missing for Brighton’s goal. What I did notice, and there may be nothing in it, but when they walked off at the end there was a very cursory congrats from Nuno, almost as if he begrudged giving any praise.
RAN gets better with every game, confident, outrageously skilled when going forward and his defensive duties seem to be improving, I would definitely purchase him.
Hoever was very steady and didn’t let himself down at any time effective getting forward on occasion.
MGW took some time to settle and I must admit that I found him frustrating but credit where credit is due he stuck to the task and reaped the benefits.
Fabio continues to impress me, a Rolls Royce that is just being run in, sublime assist.
Whilst BHA were not the sternest test the kids done well.
Lupinehowler Hi Andy,
Vitinha was steady throughout without setting the game on fire, seems more confident the more playing time he gets. Kilman didn’t really put a foot wrong during the match although he was part of a defence that went woefully missing for Brighton’s goal. What I did notice, and there may be nothing in it, but when they walked off at the end there was a very cursory congrats from Nuno, almost as if he begrudged giving any praise.
RAN gets better with every game, confident, outrageously skilled when going forward and his defensive duties seem to be improving, I would definitely purchase him.
Hoever was very steady and didn’t let himself down at any time effective getting forward on occasion.
MGW took some time to settle and I must admit that I found him frustrating but credit where credit is due he stuck to the task and reaped the benefits.
Fabio continues to impress me, a Rolls Royce that is just being run in, sublime assist.
Whilst BHA were not the sternest test the kids done well.
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