AFC Bournemouth

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!

Bournemouth did the absolute minimum to win this game.

By that I mean, they sat in a shape, did all the defending they had to do and scored the only chance they created.

On that basis, they fully deserved the victory.

Wolves just suffered in all the familiar ways.

Most obvious is the continued inability to break down a team that sit deep and put the emphasis on them to attack.

We had 70% possession, forced 12 corners and had 15 shots but somehow never looked like scoring once.

There wasn’t enough intensity, enough bravery to play the forward pass or enough players breaking into the penalty area. These are problems that have plagued us for five years now that really need addressing.

The primary tactic is still sending Adama down the line to deliver crosses that nobody comes close to converting.

Cunha doesn’t look like the centre forward to change our fortunes in that respect, failing to even take up positions that might see the ball break his way for a chance.

Sarabia was full of running and good intentions but again isn’t troubling the opponent’s goal in the way we’d all hoped given his impressive numbers in recent times elsewhere.

It was a game where we needed some drive and purpose from deep and you’d hope Nunes might finally deliver the goods. Instead it was another afternoon where the contest simply passed him by. Very disappointing indeed.

In stark contrast to last week, none of the substitutions really made an impact and seemed to unbalance the side and disrupt whatever rhythm we had in the first place.

Hooking Traore was the worst decision. He had their full back on toast and was the only way through a resilient backline. After he went off, it was a chore to even work the ball up the pitch.

Lopetegui has to shoulder a lot of the blame for these choices and when you factor in the continued preference to deploy Moutinho as an attacking midfielder in another game we fail to score, it wasn’t a great day at the office for our head coach.

He has credit in the bank of course but performances like this will mean it’s a bumpy ride all the way to the finish. And I’d rather it wasn’t.

Building from a position of strength is easier so I hope Wolves can take advantage of what they’ve achieved in recent weeks.

Winning again tomorrow will not only put clear daylight between ourselves and those below but also push the old gold into midtable. That was unthinkable at Christmas.

Defeat would undo some of the good work and make things uncomfortable again, so it really is a sliding doors moment in the campaign.

Seize the opportunity Wolves, please.

Bournemouth

The Cherries haven’t won in any competition since mid-November and after this weekend play Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool in consecutive fixtures.

We know that the Premier League doesn’t always follow script, but they’ll recognise that they must get a result tomorrow to avoid a chasm opening up between themselves and 17th.

A credible point against Newcastle last time out could easily have been three, and that performance will inspire hope for Gary O’Neil’s side.

They do have the worst goal difference in the league but the nine they shipped at Anfield in one game does put a slightly misleading slant on the figures when assessing their season overall.

The standard £50 million or so was pumped into the team in January with centre-back Ilya Zabarnyi joining from Dynamo Kyiv as well as winger Dango Ouattara, midfielder Hamed Traore and centre-forward Antoine Semenyo.

It’s a considerable outlay for Bournemouth who of course have new ownership, but it’s a big punt on potential rather than proven talent at this level. Win or lose tomorrow, if I was online betting, I do think they’ll go down.

Wolves

The big ones for Julen are deciding who comes in for Mario Lemina and who gets rewarded (or punished) for the turnaround at Southampton.

I honestly have no idea what he’ll do, but Bueno, Costa, Traore and Gomes will all feel hard done by if they’re not starting.

Diego is a more conventional centre-forward than Cunha and I wonder if we might see the Brazilian pushed wide to accommodate his former Athletico teammate in the side?

Gomes could also start in a straight swap for Lemina but Lopegui might see value in easing him into the action. Then maybe Traore on later for his usual run around against tired legs?

What we do know is that the team that starts won’t resemble the team that finishes and this manager won’t hesitate to ring the changes whatever is happening on the pitch. It certainly keeps things interesting.

Predictions

Well done to Silverwolf, Wokingham Welsh Wolf, Steppenwolfe, Sutton Coldfield wolf, West Parkian, Ash K, Portuguese men of Wolves, DebenhamWolf, The Witley Wanderer and me for all correctly forecasting a 2-1 win a St. Mary’s.

Rich remains 3 clear at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 22.

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!

At a time when we should be excited by one of the most successful transfer windows in Wolves’ history – and with possibly further movement to come on deadline day – Bruno is doing his best to spoil the party on the pitch.

Lage could argue that only now is he being properly backed, but that is no excuse for failing to see off a woeful Bournemouth side that has just been thrashed 9-0 by Liverpool resulting in Scott Parker’s departure.

With Wolves continuing to look devoid of creativity, I wonder if Bruno is heading for the chop too.

Wolves’ obsession with moving the ball backwards and sideways is infuriating, and when we do reach the final third, we turn back and start another tedious sequence of pointless keep ball.

No taking on the man, no playing between the lines, no through balls into space.

A midfield of Moutinho, Neves and Nunes with wide forward options of Neto and Guedes should be mouth-watering, but Bruno’s risk averse approach is sucking the life out of the players and fans alike. We’re boring to watch.

Raul has to be on borrowed time after tonight’s showing; his touch is completely off, he looks disinterested and are any of us surprised he missed that one-on-one?

Although he slightly improved in attack upon moving to the right, I wonder if Raul’s best pal Jonny has seen better days as well. Too often he looked clueless when trying to take on his man down the left.

I’m tearing my hair out with frustration because we now have the players at our disposal to produce the attacking style we’ve seen little of since Project Restart.

Fosun will want to see a return on their £100m+ investment – and soon. Time’s ticking for Bruno.

After Sunday’s game, a few people took me to task over my negative mindset.

I was definitely seeing red but it wasn’t so much the sickener of conceding late, more how that equaliser arrived.

Wolves couldn’t string two passes together in the second half and overall stats of 36% possession at home to Newcastle, when you’ve got our midfield, isn’t acceptable. Don’t forget their best midfielder was sat at home too.

It seems like Plan A is passing the ball around and struggling to create or camping out and playing on the break. I think Bruno Lage can coax more out of this talented group.

The seemingly imminent arrival of a giant centre forward should help.

Bournemouth

The Cherries have just been slapped for 9 and sacked their manager. Some will say that makes it a tough fixture, but I’m not sure I agree.

If Wolves can assert themselves on the game as they should, this represents an excellent opportunity to collect a first league victory of the campaign.

Scott Parker might consider himself unfortunate to be out of a job on the basis he did get a win on opening day against Villa and the three losses that followed were against Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool.

They conceded an eye-watering 16 goals in that trio of defeats without finding the net themselves, but it seems like diverging views on transfer policy is the rationale behind the early change.

Parker wanted more signings and the club is talking about long-term sustainability. Fair enough, but you would have thought they’d have got on the same page over the summer or parted ways sooner.

In a season where it looks particularly tough to pick out obvious candidates for the drop, they’re rapidly moving towards the top of that list.

Wolves

Probably not a popular choice but I’d put Dendoncker in tomorrow. There’s talk about him being moved on but until he does leave or we get another forward in, I think we need him.

There are still not enough players in the box when we get forward. Neto and Guedes are willing runners but neither is steaming in at the back post when crosses are coming from the other side.

Nunes got in there a few times on Sunday, but with Raul not offering any aerial threat I think we need another body occupying defenders and whatever you want to say about his finishing, Leander does get on the end of things.

Podence, Traore and Ait-Nouri are other attacking options that could help break the lock and maybe Podence playing just behind Raul could alter the dynamic. It worked well a few times last season.

Predictions

Well done to Cannock Wolf, Portuguese Men of Wolves, PeteRobbo, Rich, Mike Jones, Steppenwolfe, Ash k and Matt Cook for all correctly predicting a 1-1 draw against Newcastle.

Ash K, PeteRobbo and Rich share the lead at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 4.

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!