Thomas

If Gary O’Neil was trying to convey understated satisfaction at full time, he probably should have told Shaun Derry.

His right hand man was fist pumping the air with the best of us as Wolves locked down a second away win of the season to elevate themselves up to the giddy heights of midtable.

Whether he wants to admit it or not, victory was sweet for the boss and not just because of the opposition. He made smart changes in the game that swung momentum his current team’s way.

Tommy Doyle came on for João Gomes at half time and immediately threaded the ball through in the build up to Cunha’s equaliser. His passing elevated the team and helped us get control of the game even before the Cherries were reduced to 10.

And no complaints about the red card please. Yes, Hwang threw himself to the ground like he’d been planted with a sledgehammer but you can’t stick your head in someone’s face and stay on the pitch.

Wolves continued to move the ball well and probe around the Bournemouth box, but it was right at the end when the game became stretched that the winning goal arrived.

Sasa, another smart substitution, won it back, got to his feet, collected Hwang’s fantastic pass and finished with aplomb. That’s twice the Austrian has come on to win a game for his side this season.

I’d be screaming for him to start but you can’t deny the impact of the first choice front three.

Another goal for Cunha and an assist each for Neto and Hwang. They’re building numbers we could only dream about from our attackers in recent years.

Pedro in particular is in scintillating form (is anyone in the league playing better?) and was unlucky to see that first half rocket come back off the angle.

His team went in behind at the break after conceding a goal that was great from a Bournemouth perspective as they effortlessly transported the ball up the pitch but awful for Wolves with players dragged out of position and nobody able to block or make a tackle.

That was more or less all Bournemouth offered as an attacking force and I did think that Wolves had been the better team at the interval, despite the negative scoreline.

By the end, the visitors had clocked up 12 corners and 20 shots on goal, cementing their superiority to more than warrant the three points.

That’s four Premier League games unbeaten and with eight points snaffled in the process, things are looking rosy in the garden.

Time will tell if we’re storing up nuts for a cold and bleak winter or building towards a sunnier season than most imagined.

But I feel good about this team now and the squad gives the manager options. He’ll have some difficult decisions next week with Lemina, Semedo and possibly one or two others back in contention.

It’s a nice position to be in and one you certainly begrudge Gary O’Neil.

Well in mate.

It’s funny how any fixture can become a grudge match.

On paper, this one would normally be a prime candidate for that prized post-midnight slot on Match of the Day. But no, no, no, hold your horses – this is big.

The Gary O’Neil Derby.

El Gazzico.

The Cherries are desperate for a win. Wolves want to keep the good vibes going. Gary just wants vengeance.

Let’s get it on.

Bournemouth

After John Eustace was ruthlessly sacked to make way for Wayne Rooney the other day, I saw someone on Twitter commenting that football club owners shouldn’t go looking for problems.

The logic being that Eustace was going along fine, so why rock the boat? The same could be said of Bournemouth’s treatment of O’Neil.

There must have been a feeling that Andoni Iraola was a significant upgrade, but he’s only been managing for a few years longer than his predecessor and has zero experience of the Premier League. It was a risky move and the early signs aren’t good.

Maybe it will prove correct in the long run, but after a winless start (three draws and five defeats), including that 3-0 humbling at Goodison Park last time out – the pressure is enormous for his side to deliver a victory tomorrow.

In mitigation, they’ve had a lot of injuries and a tough run of fixtures to begin the campaign (not quite as hard as ours mind) – I thought this was an interesting graphic in a decent post on the BBC Sport site.

But they’re the lowest scorers in the league so far (5) and conceding three against an Everton team that hardly scores must have set the alarm bells ringing.

Wolves

I think if Lemina and Semedo weren’t suspended it would be difficult for Gary to change the team following two excellent performances. But in their absence, he might be tempted into more radical changes.

But if we’re following the mantra of ‘don’t go looking for problems’, I’d stick with the same shape and just make the easy, like-for-like decisions – Doc for Semedo and Boubacar for Lemina.

It’s handy to have Bellegarde back again because we can easily change shape and get that extra attack-minded body in midfield, but I’d start with the more defensively rigid shape to make it difficult for Bournemouth in the early parts of the game.

Predictions

Well done to Teddy and Liz who correctly predicted 1-1 against Aston Villa. Apologies to anyone who couldn’t get their forecast in prior to that game. The server went down on the website and there was nothing I could do to get it back online until later in the day. We’re also having some technical issues with the site that need to be resolved so the current Prediction League table isn’t quite correct. I’ll try to look at that this week.

I’m backing us to come out on top tomorrow. They need to win really and I’m hoping that desperation opens them up to mistakes that allow the likes of Pedro and Cunha to break at speed. That’s where we do the majority of our damage.

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.

Up The Wolves!