Europe was always a distant dream, but a top-half finish remains possible.
To achieve that, we need to take points from games like this and Luton, Bournemouth, Forest and Palace where home advantage and/or those teams’ respective struggles open the door for us, even with a depleted attack.
Getting Matheus Cunha back on the pitch sooner rather than later is essential, so hopefully he gets some minutes under his belt tomorrow.
The positive we can take from Villa is that we were more than competitive in the game and created the chances to score, even if we didn’t put the ball in the net.
Burnley
Incredibly, Burnley are still alive. They were toast without all the points deduction malarky, but a couple of wins now and the great escape is on.
If you’re a Clarets fan you should be rubbing your hands together with this fixture coming at an opportune moment and they’ve still got to play Everton, Sheffield Utd and Forest too, so it could be interesting.
I’ll be amazed if they do survive from what I’ve seen this season, but stranger things have happened and they showed plenty of fight in coming back twice with 10 men at Stamford Bridge at the weekend. They should have won it at the death too but Jay Rodriguez couldn’t convert from back-to-back chances.
The decision to award Chelsea a soft penalty and then send their man off for a second booking was harsh to say the least, so I can understand why Vincent Kompany was somewhat miffed and got himself sent to the stands.
Striker David Fofana, who was looked useful since coming on loan from Chelsea in January, sat out the weekend against his parent club, but will be back tomorrow. He’s one to worry about.
Wolves
It would be lovely if Cunha could start, but is that fanciful/stupid?
If he can’t play, it’s a coin toss for me between Chiwome and Fraser. Both have shown bits and pieces but have struggled to impact games.
I’m surprised the likes of Doherty, Boubacar and Hugo Bueno haven’t been used a bit more. Could you play without a striker and just give Lemina, Ait-Nouri, Gomes and Sarabia even greater license to break forward? It would at least put eleven senior pros on the pitch.
I suppose with the relative comfort of midtable, Gary might prefer to stick to his principles and style of play unless results continue to slide. Hopefully the issue resolves itself in the coming weeks if Cunha, Hwang and maybe Bellegarde return to the fold.
Predictions
Well done to Winchcombewolf, Steppenwolfe, Sea Pigeon, Aquilador, Chesterwolf, Nick and Prawny who all correctly predicted the 2-0 defeat at Villa Park.
I do think it’s going to be tough for us again tomorrow. But if we see the same application as Saturday and get a bit more luck/quality around the box, there’s every chance we’ll come away with a result. Burnley give you a chance, so can we take it? I’m going to say 1-1.
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!
Greetings,
Gazzbo is really going to earn his corn in the coming weeks.
And it’s Burnley.
They have found a new chief carrot in Vincent Company, who showed his managerial metal by getting red carded at the Bridge. The McChelsea Billions doing the talking there methinks.
But it’s Burnley, and a couple of slot tokens won’t cut it. VAR should be kind, especially if they want any more noodles delivered to take the edge off the Lobster Bisque and Champagne.
Let’s not forget it was this lot that did for Nuno. That 4-0 home defeat still the stuff of nightmares.
Time to turn the tables and dish out some pain. We look to you, the man with the plan.
1 lv & COYW
I want to go for a win its just hard whiskey going g to score that’s the problem. If Cunha is back yes we can wi but it’s going to be tough Burnley put up a good fight last time out. I know it was only Chelsea but a good result all the same have to be on are guard.
Should bewhen whos going to score I think may be one two many hope everyone has enjoyed their Bank Holiday.
Hard game, please play Mario in the centre, max is too quiet, kids aren’t ready, hope the season ends on a high, wolves aie we!
Touché brother. 100% agree with all comments.
Our recent record at Turf Moor is like Villa’s against us at Villa Park. They turned the tables against us so can we do the same to Burnley?
Scoring goals has become the big issue of late and that failing is guaranteed to put extra pressure on the defence. Also, moving Mario further forward has disrupted our previously rock solid midfield. Therefore I would like to see Joao and Mario reunited in front of the back three with Tommy Doyle ahead of them. Ait-Nouri, Sarabia and A N Other up top and Hugo Bueno as wing back.
It’s important that we get all three points in this to get our season back on track.
COYW
Agreed Wolfstroker. It’s gonna be tough but we can do it with a bit of luck.
UTW!
Another tough match coming so soon for our depleted squad
Bit of a bogey side but it’s about time we turned them over
I would go without the striker, imo.
Down to the barest of barest bones and its bound to be tough yet again as tired limbs combined with lack of depth will probably find us out. Hopefully I’m way off the mark.
We’re still trying to do our best with depleted forces, typically just as Burnley are showing a bit of intent. Hopeful for a win but, as it’s Turf Moor, I’d be happy with a point.
Lost the last 2 away games. Nil goals scored so the Gods will even this up. I don’t think we were outclassed in either defeat at Toon and Villa. So I am going for a draw here. Just because Burnley are desperate and we are already on the beach sipping a nice tipple. I will go 1-1.
It would be interesting to hear from Jeff Shi on the plans for summer and his thoughts in general. There is no communication with the fans, none at all. Just silence!
Anyway, to the game and it will be tough as Burnley smell the great escape and will fight. If we score first we will win, but otherwise we could be in trouble!
We could put 11 men behind the ball as Arsenal did against Man C. and see if the pundits think that we performed brilliantly like they said the Gunners did!! Most boring game I’ve seen for a while!
Hoping we can get the win with our depleted/non-existent attack – fingers crossed.
Afraid Mario was wasted up on the front left, rather him back as midfield maestro and Tommy Doyle more attacking.
My we need Cunha back on the pitch, (and Dawson and Neto and Hwang)
One of my earliest memories as a young Wolves supporter in Australia (mid 70s) was seeing the matchday program after we had thrashed Burnley away – the headline was:
Its Turf More, more, more!
Unlikely to repeat that with our depleted squad, but hoping we can squeak by with a win.
Wolves away against a bad team never seems to go well, even without a crippled squad.
As usual hoping for a win. Did not expect us to get anything from the villa game but Thought we had a good attempt. We should do better against Burnley but only if we somehow manage to score!
Well if we have to rely on the children again up front we’re going to struggle as our primary attacking force (our left back ffs) look’s knackered.
If by some miracle Cunha has the muscle memory remaining from before his injury and can give us half a game then we have a small chance.
It just goes to show the small margins between success and relegation in this league
One good thing is the clocks went back/forward in blighty making it more reasonable to watch over here,lose 1hr less work, love to see the young Herbert’s score a couple and take the pressure off
Got a new prediction league strategy all games 2-1 law of averages says I’ll get one right
Hopefully Cunha is back giving us more of a threat going forward.
Something will click tonight and another 3 points for us. Totally agree that we need Mario in the middle with Joao to give us that tenacity and strength.
Our speedy Algerian will want to amend for his miss in the last game – game on!!!
Get back to playing Mario and Gomes in midfield, Mario is better there
Feel sorry for Doyle but perhaps he can be moved forward if Cunha not fit
Burnley can sense an escape route and we have not beaten them there for ages
But let’s hope we have Cunha back and be positive
Trying to stay positive, but yes, a lot depends on Cunha appearing. I wish GON would let us know before we predict 🙂
Ah, well, a tight 1-0 win
if cunha isn’t fit then R A N should be on the left wing …
put mario back in midfield
Going to this one – never been to Turf Moor. Come on lads, I haven’t seen us win this year!
Burnley are another one of those sides at the wrong end of the table that have goals in them but can’t seem to keep them out at the other end. We need to be taking our chances when they come to walk away with any points.
Burnley always give us a hard game and even for our skinny squad will be tough to beat, so I’ll be happy with a draw after losing the last two away matches.
I don’t want to risk putting Cunha on just yet, our injuries list is making me jumpy…
i was just reading a thing from West Ham
hammers hub … about how much they still miss Craig Dawson as they are conceding a lot of goals lately.
i think we can safely say the same.
When do we get him back?
think we’d be in the game cup semi if he hadn’t been injured
Given the doom and gloom surrounding Molineux at the start of the season, we’re in a position that many of us could only have dreamed about.
Relegation is off the agenda, as is Europe I think. And, given how thin our squad is, that is certainly no bad thing.
Premier League status assured, a decent cup run followed by a top half finish would mean a successful season as far as I’m concerned.
If Cunha plays and we show the same application and fight we showed at Veela Park, I think we could well get a win at Burnley
UTW
I know our hands are being forced at the minute but we need to play out best players in their best position. So with that in mind Lemina needs to be reunited with Gomes in a midfield two. Harsh on Doyle who always does well when he comes in but we look a better team with Lemina and Gomes as the two.
With so few senior players available this is going to be a difficult game to win but, come on, let’s be optimistic. I’m going to let my heart rule my head here and predict a hard fought, narrow win.
I would rather have an oven ready Cunha than one who is not quite there. I trust in GON as to when he plays him. Same goes for Dawson.
In the meantime it is over to our embattled warriors to raise the Wolves flag. Reinforcements welcome, of course.
I’ll take a hard won point tonight.
I’ve certainly dismiss all thoughts of European football next year ..
with sailing close to the wind with PSR .. signing no-one of note in January would take a massive gamble on staying within the current corrupt football set up… we’d probably need at least 6 more quality players .. nah .. it’s a pipe dream ..
So tonight… I wouldn’t risk Cunha .. at least starting with him .. coming back from hamstring injuries to soon, and with so much expectation, has already proved disastrous.. ie Neto and Hwang… so it’s kids again I’m afraid tonight… which imo is a big ask yet again…
Burnley on the other hand are beginning to find their PL feet and as much as I’d love sone points from tonight .. I’m afraid it’s a step too far …
It’ll be close but those peskies from East Lancs should just carry too much for us .. to keep us out…
Need to get something from this one to avoid a poor run of results starting to turn into a death spiral similar to the one that ended the Lage tenure. Gary could very well find that the regression to the mean, as a result of wolves tiny, squad kills his good will earned in the early part of his reign. Wolves have overachieved so much in the first half of the season that they are safe regardless, but the injuries and tiredness we are showing lately could easily us not win a game between now and the end of the season. It would be difficult to pick up the fan support and squad morale for next season if that happens unfortunately.
Should be a good game. We’ll go up and they’ll nick a draw…
We’ve got an awful recent record at Turf Moor and they appear to have picked up a bit of form at just the wrong time as far as we’re concerned. Probably a good thing this isn’t on TV as it is sure to be a stinker.
Incredible to think Burnley could be just a point off safety if they win, having been one of the worst PL teams in history for most of this season. Fair play to them though, and they normally get the better of us.
Almost everyone has won at TM this season though and injuries are not an acceptable excuse tonight. I fear how this one will go – but through blind faith alone, I’ll back us to get the result.
One of the very very small bonuses of living NZ is we get to watch every premier game live albeit it being in the middle of the night
Dunno
Not getting a good vibe as for sure Burnley will fight like hell
Chuwome has the chance to
Show how good he is
Nice write up about him in NYTimes
https://theathletic.com/5379937/2024/04/01/wolves-chiwome-england-wimbledon/
I’d take a point
Meantime We await the return of the walking wounded
Need a win to speed my recovery (planned surgery was brought forward as they had a cancellation). Also to get bragging rights over an ex-colleague who spends far more time in the South of France than in Burnley.
Gary o Neil has the brain to stratagise this and us to win..
We mustn’t concede in the first half either…
We should be worth 2 goals IMO
I hope Ait Nouri plays better than he did against the vile he’s capable of running rings round this lot..
Chiwome for me up front…he should get a couple of chances…
2-1
This game could be very difficult with our present deficiencies. I would personally play Doyle and Lemina deep with Gomes more forward and I would give Doc more of a runout up front. No game for youngsters against Burnley’s defenders I feel.
I don’t expect these changes and I think Burnley will be more than up for it against a side struggling up front. Regrettably a 2-1 loss…
All the talk about Turf Moor took me back to the many great weekends I had in the days of yore when Bob Lord was their chairman and when the away Burnley fixture used to mean spending the weekend with friends – and ex-pat yam-yams – who lived in Barnoldswick. One incident in particular reminded me of the happier times before the entire 90-105 minutes was subjected to an overkill of cameras leading to endless inquests and re-examination of any incident. Also pre-VAR when there was only one decision and not a committee meeting.
With Burnley attacking , their forward, from about 10-12 yards hit a cross shot over the goal line and onto the inside of the side netting. It was too quick for Malcom Finlayson to stop, but he went for it and, as the goal area was crowded, picked the ball out of the net, stood up, ran forward – bouncing the ball as goalies had to in those days- and cleared the ball downfield watched by the unsighted ref and the very annoyed Burnley players as the game carried on without interruption. Imagine the reaction if PGMOL had been in charge. MF would have been charged with bringing the game into disrepute, and they’d probably have tried to pin the Shergar affair on him as well. Those were the days.
Hope to be proved wrong but can’t see us scoring more than 1. Think Burnley will be bouyed by their result at Chelsea.
A hard fought draw.