This isn’t the seismic relegation six pointer it might have been. Well, not for us anyway.
Leicester’s Premier League status hangs in the balance and they are desperate for a victory.
I can’t help feeling a little smug about that given the desperate state we were in when they trounced us 4-0 at Molineux earlier in the season and Jamie Vardy took such enormous delight in sticking in the knife.
If 34 points isn’t enough for Wolves, you’d hope we’d scramble a few more between now and the finish to make certain we avoid disaster, even if we come unstuck at the King Power.
But it would be nice to finish with a flourish and there’s an opportunity here to do just that.
Leicester
If they stay up they’ll feel justified in sacking Brendan Rodgers, but Dean Smith doesn’t scream survival.
He’s clearly a decent enough coach but he couldn’t save Norwich when he arrived there in a similar position. I imagine his availability combined with a lack of alternative interested parties may have played a role in the appointment.
I’ve always thought they’d survive, purely because of the attacking talent they have at their disposal and the 41 goals they’ve scored is way more than most of the teams in the bottom half.
But they lack authority in defence and the loss of Kasper Schmeichel and an injury to Jonny Evans has cost them dear in this respect.
I still believe they’ll stay up based on their remaining fixtures but if they don’t get a win in the next two, it’s starting to look desperate.
Wolves
There’s only one team Lopetegui should put out and that’s the one that’s won the last two.
He could play Podence, Sarabia or Hwang down the left but I wouldn’t compromise the rhythm of the side just to wedge Ruben into the XI. Others will disagree.
If you take Lemina or Gomes out or move others around I worry that you’re sacrificing the qualities that have got us into this favourable position.
I just don’t know why you’d do that when we’ve spent the entire season trying to find consistency.
Predictions
Well done to CHEESEBURGER OF DEATH, DancesWithWolves, Sharmwolf, slider and Franski who all got a maximum last time out by correctly forecasting the 2-0 scoreline against Brentford.
Rich is now six points clear at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 30.
As always, if you’d like to join in with the Prediction League this season, it’s simple – just leave your prediction in the comment section below using the boxes provided. Then repeat for every preview article throughout the season, making sure you always use the same email address to make your prediction. Your email is what ties you to your overall score.
You can read my prediction for the game in the comment section below.
Up The Wolves!
I hope we keep the same team for this one… if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
Leicester away will be tough, but a 1-1 draw will do me.
A draw would do just fine and I think we’ll have to play well to get it because Leicester will be all guns blazing with the crowd right behind them.
The challenge for Wolves is to manage that atmosphere and gradually turn it against them. We’ve looked more defensively robust in the last two and if we make it a third consecutive cleansheet I’m confident we’ll win because I think we’ll create chances against this Leicester team.
Costa to make it two in two.
I too hope J-LO is brave enough to stick with the same team as started the last two. It looks balanced, seems to play to everyone’s strengths and can only get better if they are allowed to gel further. He can always make the changes if it looks like it isn’t doing the job against the Foxes for whatever reason.
As regards the opposition, they do generally bag a goal by and large,. Their issue is letting more in at the other end. A new manager makes recent form less reliable as an indicator. All we can say is that they looked a better side against City in the second half, but by then City were already out of sight so not sure what that tells us.
Anyway, looks like a great opportunity to get three on the bounce, achieve effective safety, and get revenge for the reverse earlier in the season. I’m particularly relishing seeing what Costa can do against their back line if he can replicate the appetite he had last time out.
I’ve got to go for a win for this one.
The last couple of victories will have eased the pressure on the players somewhat, though the performances in those games showed little signs of nerves.
For sure Leicester are struggling though a reading of their squad list makes it difficult to understand why. Some of their most accomplished players are out injured but they still boast several who can hurt you in the blink of an eye.
The burning question is, of course, what to do about the young maestro, Mr Neves. Certainly, a finer player has never donned the famous Old Gold. But if the team is a jigsaw, all the pieces have to fit. It’s no use trying to make a new picture with pieces from the one you did last week. We’ve had a glimpse of the new picture that JLo wants to create and it looks quite delightful. So we press on wholeheartedly or cling on to some bits of yesterday and try to fit them in somehow.
Take the plunge Julen. Ruben is a fantastic professional. He will understand.
On paper, this looks like a great chance for us to bag another three points but, like you Thom, I suspect we’ll be under the cosh for large periods of this game as Leicester will be desperate for the win. They were good in the second half against City last weekend (albeit after being trounced in the first) so they’ll be looking to build on the momentum of that showing. That being said, we’ve looked solid of late so I expect us to claim at least another valuable point.
I hate this fixture – Especially after Vardys behaviour last time.
It would feel so good to put another dent in their campaign – as long as we keep the same starting 11 – we win… Neves got himself taken out the team for 2 games, so he shouldn’t expect to walk back in.
hopefully this time we can have just 4 shots on target and score all 4.
Two on the bounce suggests we should stick with the same team. If Ruben is on the bench there’s no doubt he’ll come on at some point and I’m sure being the professional he’s proved to be he won’t have a problem with that.
The only change I’d even consider is maybe swapping Sarabia but even that might be too much tinkering.
Bottom line is Jlo is proving more than capable of picking the right team for the occasion so whoever he chooses is fine by me.
The last 2 games showed us we have a strong team that can be challenging for a top 6 position next year (optimistic, I know).Whilst the team performed very well without the presence of Neves, I somehow think that it will be a hard decision for JLo not to start him. Whatever he does, we would still be fielding and excellent side that is capable of beating most PL teams. I believe much depends whether Costa can produce the same level he has done in the last 2 weeks.
Hopefully we can squeeze another win. Fingers crossed.
A bit like The Spanish Inquisition.
The ONE rule in Football:- Don’t change a winning team… and…
The TWO rules in Football:- Don’t change a winning team… and don’t change a winning team that is playing with fire and verve and grit… and…
The THREE rules in Football:- Don’t change a winning team… and don’t change a winning team that is playing with fire and verve and grit… and don’t change a winning team whose centre forward has seemingly rediscovered his mojo.
Ruben is one of our greatest players and a man who has the best interests of Wolves at heart and I’m sure that he will understand. If things go badly we have a supersub to call on.
I’m expecting a win here.
Unlike The Spanish Inquisition.
Nobody expects them.
ONE rule in the Prediction League: get your score in!
Rules TWO and THREE: ditto!
I checked on the referee before I posted this …
Andy Madley … he who instructed his linesman to raise his flag and deny a perfectly good goal at Anfield… despite the fact he didn’t think there was a suspicion of offside.
So it seems that on Saturday we can only score goals from within our own half …
I’m really sceptical of this official because he’s got history of denying us fair play…. Let’s see at 4:50 on Saturday.
There’s no reason whatsoever why we can’t all but touch PL safety by winning at the KingPower… and imo our current commitment and desire points very much to achieving this …
I’d start without Neves, as much as I worship the guy, and keep him revved up ready to close us out from a winning position.
We’ve got some talented players now showing and I have no doubt that I’ll be singing at the end … including waiving to Vardy ….
Same starting line up as last week.. with Sarabia … a few wayward passes maybe but he’s got a lot of experience at finding the spaces…
I couldn’t fail to be impressed with Joao Gomes too , having such energy and at last Nunes is living up to our expectations.
We’ve got a really strong bench now and I’m hopeful of comfortable victory…
Wolves to get another massive 3 points .. with Cunha, Dawson and a Neves penalty … all hopefully passing the scrutiny of VAR …
Agreed…100 percent
there is something crooked about Madley
i have never seen a Ref demand that a linesman puts his flag up to disallow a goal for offside when he had no views of it at all . i think that in times to come the truth will come out about some refs / VAR and liverpool Deans etc
i mean what has even happened with Barcelona when they were found to be making payments to Referees for favourable decisions?
There’s a lot of money in betting syndicates
.
There is actually a conspiracy to cover it up, also.
Remember what happened when Lemina got his second yellow card – they had other refs give out yellow cards for a similar reason, but just, seemingly, for that weekend so they could say it was a new league wide directive.
Appalling!
Some fans should sue.
Three on the bounce for the 1st time this season would indeed be satisfying – and not an impossible feat.
The big question we are all asking will be answered at 2pm tomorrow when the team sheet is released.
That dart has just landed in the double 2 so a score draw it is.
Got to go for a win if its the same team who have won there last 2 games and played some decent football.
Ait N was considered a great one for the future, until Bueno arrived and did well — until Toti turned up!
So while Neves has been great, he should sit out the starting 11 in part because have done well, and in part that Neves will be leaving in the summer. JL has to be ruthless and make the best decision for the team and club. And
This will not be an easy game as Leicester are fighting for their lives, and it is sort of a derby, where previous form goes through the window.
Hope JL keeps 4-4-2 as two in the front is a must.
It is important to note that we have not solved our goal scoring problems, but we are very slowly getting better, and we have to take our chances and ride out luck!
Oh, and impotantly, can we get a fair decision in the penalty box? Surely VAR cannot continue to be so wrong so often! Compare that to Man U a couple of years ago under Ollie, where they got 25+ penalties in a season including some real “softies!”
I fear you underestimate VAR’s capacity for unfair play.
Agree with Thomas / Wolfstroker et al about the makeup of the team. Can always bring RN on if things aren’t going to plan.
I would feel more confident in making a prediction if I knew the team – wouldn’t we all?
Draw seems likely but in a fit of positivity I’m going to predict we’ll nick all three points.
Agree that the team that have won the last two and played well without conceding must be selected. You simply cannot take Lemina, Nunes or Gomes out of the midfield that has performed so well together. Similarly the defence has played much better and should be kept. The whole team looks better balanced and playing as a team rather than eleven individuals. I’ll be surprised and disappointed if Ruben or Hugo Bueno are brought back in to the starting line up and I think that not only would it be unfair on the players who lost out but also it’d be a big mistake. I think this fixture is winnable but avoiding defeat and/or not conceding should be the first priority and would be another step in the right direction.
Well, thankfully Semedo shouldn’t have a sleepless night as his nemesis Harvey Barnes has seemingly been confirmed as a non starter. That will certainly greatly reduce their scoring threat and, if he plays, surely Tielemanns won’t be able to produce any more worldies.
So that’s nil for them.
It’s about time that we struck from a corner or set piece but I’m not going to over egg the pudding.
So that’s nil for us.
James Vardy needs to be injured I hate the bloke but with our new strategic and let’s do the obvious manager then we could easily gain 3 points here.But we are wolves and we just never know….. our DNA is complicated…
I hope Costa puts the fear of god into their defenders and we put in at least 2
Me too Steve.
JL has given last week’s starters his vote of confidence, so it’s over to you lads.
COMBs!
I want that big win
When alls said and done, the PL last 6 games table shows us as 10th and Leicester 19th.
JLo seems to have now found a winning formation and if Costa is not fit then Raul should be a like4like replacement.
We have an impressive and game changing bench to introduce and it is for Leicester to fear us on this occasion. They are clearly desperate for any sort of result but the longer the game goes goalless then the more likely we are to win it. Clean sheet and a late brace from Cunha please. I just hope that the match officials and VAR do not have unjust influence on the outcome.
Tough one to call. How long can we keep being good before the inevitable dud performance somewhere? Our combined dreadful record at the King Power and their desperation for a win makes me nervous. And as good as we’ve been at home recently, we stank the place out at Forest.
I’ve said all season I think Leicester have too many quality players to go down but lose this and it’s becoming increasingly serious for them. For all these reasons I’ll sit on the fence and say a draw.
It’s incredible to think we’re saying leave Neves out of the team but when looking at the last two performances, it’s the only conclusion you can come to. I guess at least it gives us heart there is life after Ruben.
Havent been on for a while…..but i agree with everyones comments….dont change a winning team . Our midfield is on fire at the moment and Costa has been reborn.
Same spirit, guts and determiniation from our lads should see us prevail !
COYW
can’t stand Vardy either … let’s hope his career finishes with relegation. Can’t stand Smith either … fat headed Villa prick.
can’t see them being a match for us on this teams recent performances . I would probably leave the team as it is until J Go gets booked and then bring Ruben on and finish them off
Same team as last week for me. Neves and Podence to come on in the second half and Adama to create chaos in the last 20 mins – I can see it all now!!!
However, VAR will once again make a bollocks of matters and deny us a winner. A draw will not be a disaster.
So I don’t hate Leicester, but I made a prediction last season that when Schmeichel leaves they will get demoted. So it important that I am right ?
But for them this game is do or die… so I expect we might come up again desperate team.
We have a bad record at Leicester and some bad VAR “mistakes” too. Leicester have had a very poor season, but nevertheless they’ve still scored a lot of goals, albeit they’ve been defensively frail at the same time . It will help them that, despite our significant improvement, we’re still finding it difficult to score ourselves.
Unscramble all of that and a 1-1 draw seems a possibility, but because of the historical VAR vibes I’m going for an unjust, narrow defeat whilst looking forward to being proved wrong.
Would love to put one over the Foxes and that overrated big head Vardy. We have suffered from his shithousery on earth to often it would be nice to replay the compliment.
J.Lo: has to stick to the same starting 11 if your doing the business in the the shirt then you should keep the shirt……we have leaned on Neves to often the last 3 seasons and at times it has took its toll on him he is a true Pro: and more than that a dam decent human being so I know he will not expect to walk straight back into the team he has from day one put the team and the club first the fact that he is still with us proves that.
Maybe some other week foxes…
A 3rd win on the bounce and pretty certain safety from relegation.
Whilst Leicester will not be pushovers considering their relegation issues, the likes of Vardy are well past his peak, and Leicester are very beatable.
19 Jan 2019. Wolves 4 Leicester 3.
25th October 2003 half time. Wolves 0 Leicester 3. Full time we won 4-3.
No one expected that.
I don’t think for a minute that we will see a 7 goal thriller at the King Power tomorrow, but fervently hope that we beat the Foxes. We owe them for the 4-0 shellacking back in October at home.
More than that, we owe them for Jamie Vardy’s pitch antics. That would be Karma. Bitch.
If we do come out on top, that should be enough to all but guarantee Premier League football next season for us . With 6 games to go.
It would also see Leicester inexorably slipping down over the precipice of a giant Foxes glacier mint, quicker than a polar bear wearing greased ice skates. Hello Championship oblivion. Goodbye 2015/16 Champions.
No complacency tomorrow. We are not yet safe. We have not achieved anything. The gaffers mantra.
The gaffers dilemma; to start Ruben or not to start Ruben ? My thoughts are clear. Injuries aside, he must be in on the bench. If it ain’t broke…….. and after 2 wins, 2 clean sheets and 2 improved performances, it ain’t broke.
Finally, Ruben Neves and Wolves.
7 games left.
7 games to watch and be thankful.
Be thankful for being able to say I was fortunate enough to see Neves play for Wolves.
Sunday 28th May at the Emirates could well be the last time we see our Magical Midfield Maestro, our No 8, our Captain, in a Wolves shirt.
I know it’s been said many times before, but this feels different.
It’s reported that contract talks have been put on hold, and it is likely that Ruben will leave Wolves this Summer.
He will have one year left on his contract. Wolves will not stand in his way and are prepared to let him leave for up to £40m.
That number, whilst huge, reflects the fact that he only has 12 months left and could leave for free in 2024.
Not a single Wolves supporter can begrudge him a shot at playing in the Champions League again. He is the youngest player to ever captain a team in that competition, for Porto.
He has been a superb servant to Wolves. He has been loyal and will always be a Wolf to most of us, no matter what happens in the Summer.
It’s been an absolute privilege.
But judging by the way we have played in the last couple of games, no one, even Ruben, is irreplaceable.
Our future still looks very bright.
UTW
He should play a game with his hair down.
Fabulous blog Muttleigh. However I realise I’m in a minority here but for me you do NOT leave out your best player. In a squad situation like we have now changing a winning team is old hat now and players must have faith in the team that the manager puts out. Yes under Nuno we played the same team week after week with relative success but what choice did Nuno have and how lucky we were with injuries until Rauls devastating injury which let’s be honest was probably the start of our demise.
I think now we have the makings of a top half squad with a decent manager who with a decent centre forward could light up our road to top 4 Then Rueben would not need to go searching for trophies elsewhere he would get a good chance of getting them with us
However if Man City get Bellingham then wherever Rueben goes unless it’s City he won’t be winning trophies anywhere else. By the way how on gods earth can City be within FFP regulations after just spending £100 million on Grealish ?
COYW
Another vote for the same starting line-up with Neves coming on in the 2nd half.
I’m not sure that this will be a low-scoring game; it rarely is.
I’m also not sure we will win given the ref, VAR and Vardy (yuk), so I’m going for a draw and hoping for a win (with our 3rd goal from Neves).
Quite optimistic until I saw who the ref was so predicting plenty of wolves bookings with Leicester trying to reduce the game to a free for all ,I’m hoping the new found discipline is still intact as they nearly lost it against the nylons
There is an old proverb which says “He who laughs last laughs loudest”. Imagine my surprise the other day when I was in the pub. A group of blokes were having a drink and one of them told a joke. On this occasion the bloke who laughed first laughed loudest. A few minutes later another joke was told and the bloke who laughed third laughed loudest. So this got me thinking about the old proverb. Clearly it needs to be re worded to take account of different situations like the two jokes. I propose ” He who laughs last laughs loudest. Unless on certain occasions (like reacting to a joke in a pub) it may be the person who laughs first or third”. Which should cover it. Of course it was lucky there wasn’t a hyena in the group because undoubtedly had the hyena laughed at the joke it would certainly be the loudest. So in the event of a wild animal also being present in the group there could be a further adjustment “He who laughs last laughs loudest unless on certain occasions (like reacting to a joke in the pub) it may be the person who laughs first or third. Or in the event of a hyena being present then clearly the hyena would laugh loudest. Unless the hyena had a sore throat or tonsilitis in which case it would either be he who laughed last, first or third”…… So that should clear things up around that old proverb. And the reason I mentioned it is because tomorrow at King Arthurs or whatever it’s called WWFC will most certainly have the last laugh. In revenge for the 4-0 walloping dished out at the Golden Palace the situation will be reversed with WWFC running out 3-0 winners and Diego Costa getting 2. And Hwang the other. Both of these players will be laughing first second and third and luckily no hyena will be present. So Foxes 0 WWFC 3 . After the game J Lo said ” Of course. He who laughs third laughs loudest and Hwang will be rewarded with roe and chips on the way home.” Dean Smith said ” The last time I was in a pub and someone told a joke it was the 8th bloke who laughed loudest. But it was a Villa pub and they are all a bit weird in there any way”
If it was the 8th bloke ina villa pub they must have let some away fans in
If we now know the reason Wolves pass sideways and backward all the time, can’t Julen tell them not to?
Good couple of wins so keep with the same team right… but come on it’s Ruben Neves. I can see the logic in leaving him out but come on it’s Ruben Neves.
We seem to have rediscovered the ability to score…
I started writing this when Soton were beating Arsenal which put Leicester bottom until Arsenal got a draw. Leicester need a win more than us.For us a point wouldn’t be bad, especially if we can beat Palace on Tuesday. J Lo has a big decision with Ruben and I think he will start him tomorrow.
Leicester can score, but their problem has been their defence. Wolves can hopefully take advantage.
Greetings,
Let’s not get carried away with this ‘Neves on the bench’ mallarky, or get hasty with the ‘his new contract is in the bin’ twaddle. The sort of chat that saw off Con the Don not long ago. Dawson is a less chatty, beefier Conor, but better? a different style certainly but overall less effective?
80 mill for Neves not a penny less. If the offers come in. But why wouldn’t he want to stay with a winning team with sights on Europe next year? (Expectations not based on losing 4-2 to Leeds. At home.).
I’m leaving it up to J-Lo to decide weather or not to play our returning Captain, Bring Lemina and Traore on for 30 mins to liven it up at the end.
Anyway Brenda’s legged it, and Smitty, of all the Godforsaken, sorry arsed, 2nd rate, journeyman ‘managers’ has decided it’s worth the agro of finishing off the Good ship ‘Foxy’ by taking the helm as the iceberg of relegation floats into view. Hope he’s got enough money for a helicopter.
Vardarse has got a mansion in Halifax, where he can retire with a big bag of Amphetamine Sulphate, his memories and a Prem Winners medal. Jammy sod. As long as his wife’s out of course.
It’s all too late, we’re on a roll.
1 lv & COYW.
Love Gomes aggression but he is a real risk of a red card. I like the suggestion earlier that if Neves is to start on the bench, he comes in for Gomes as soon as he gets his first yellow.
We have found a way to score last few games – one worldie and 2 rebounds! But we are creating better chances and if we can get into the right places at the right time, we deserve a bit of rare luck.
Don’t get me started on VAR and how it can repeatedly do us over.
Bad feeling on this one
It’s close to 10pm here in New York and enjoying some quality time with my better half. I’m hoping to catch the match on US tv, in twelve hours’ time.
It’s nice to know Wolves can manage without Ruben. Maybe keep a winning team?
A point would be great but Wolves are capable of all three.
West parkian
Peacock covering match
Hope you have access
Meantime as per my new year resolutions I do not buy into ref / VAR conspiracies
Nope
But we’ve been a bit shitty
Did podence spit?
Lost the plot on that one
So we will get no favors
Meantime meantime I think
Leicester are usually 1-1
But we have hexed them more than once 4-3
tomorrow however it’s a 3-0 defeat
JLo….?
Over to you
(We have a winning formula my son)
Despite Leicester’s position, this is a very difficult game for us. It should be a cracking atmosphere. I would happily take a point now. As the clock ticks down on games, anything, even a point, has significant impact when you are ahead of the pack as we currently are. Having said all of that, it would be lovely to smash them and collectively wolf howl Jamie Vardy!
Scoring the 1st goal is vital today , get it and the atmosphere in the stadium will turn toxic.
Neves on the bench.
Leicester will be fighting for their lives. Expect Neves to start and Gomes to come on later. Battling draw would do me.
Must not lose game for them but feel like we need to respond after that 4-0 battering at the start of the season! Perfectly capable of doing so, especially based on our last two performances!
Neves to come off the bench and get the winner!
SAVE WOLVES SPEEDWAY
Long-time reader, donator and occasional blogger. Apologies for hi-jacking this blog post slightly.
Some of you may have seen that Wolves Speedway have been threatened with eviction from their Monmore Green home at the end of the season.
This is an existential crisis for the club.
Organisations such as the Express & Star and BBC WM have thrown their support behind the campaign to save Wolves Speedway however silence emanates from the corridors of Waterloo Road.
Given the parallels between Wolves Speedway’s current plight and that of the football club in the 80’s, it is both surprising and disappointing that the club has remained silent on the matter. Wolves Speedway is the city’s only other professional sports club.
If you’ve got some time, please sign the below petition to save Wolves Speedway:
https://chng.it/pJsgwyhCrq
If you know anyone at the club with any influence, please give them a push.
#SaveWolvesSpeedway
Done – thanks Tettenhall.
Done
I’ll say 1 1. Hwang with our goal
We’ve got this……
.
Agree with most on here do not change a winning team
Costa trained so should be fit hopefully his goal last week will do him good and the Leicester defence is really poor Faes and the young centre half in particular
But they will be fighting for their premier wages as we’re Southampton last night
Just arrived in Leicester what a day this is going to be. We can send them down, hopefully.
On coach on way to Leicester. Hoping the momentum continues regardless of whether Neves Starts and that we can score there.
I think this is gonna be a good game, Leicester played really well in the second half against City, even though the game was gone at 3 nil down they made a real fist of it and prevented a cricket score defeat. City don’t take their foot off the gas, they are a very efficient machine for the most part however boring to watch. Providing our inconsistency is behind us i think the most likely result is a well fought draw. Hopefully we’ll keep on improving and add to their relegation woes and completely put ours to bed.
Sideshow Bob is the whether Neves comes back in, personally i don’t think he’ll start and Lopetegui won’t be swayed by politics. That’s the whole point of a squad, Neves is a consumate pro and will get it.
UTV
.
3-1 win… COYW…
As good a goalkeeper as Jose Sa is, he cost us three points today.
Leicester were dead and buried before that penalty.
Makes me laugh how week after week we get denied massive penalties (i can think of 5 since January) and yet first slip up with us and penalty. From the same idiot who missed the Newcastle penalty. Still. Not a great second half but the safety line is still 34. And with our gd we are looking ok. But blimey can we just get 1 more win. I think we can.
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