Chelsea

Many of us have questioned whether some of this Wolves squad have the stomach for a relegation fight.

Based on yesterday’s win, it’s an emphatic yes.

Most pleasing was the appetite for hard work. Some North Bank natives probably had enough of me standing up and applauding a particular piece of pressing or defending.

But I was excitable because the lads were finally showing some character.

Admittedly it was a poor Chelsea side, but for large periods we didn’t give them a minute’s rest. An old gold and black shirt was either pressing a Chelsea player off the ball or perfectly positioned for an interception.

Kudos to Lopetegui for playing his part with the selection of a balanced side especially the midfield of Lemina, Nunes and Gomes.

If you looked up workhorse in the dictionary, you’d find Lemina. A lot of his work goes unnoticed but subtly he’s bossing the base of our midfield, which allowed Gomes and Nunes to push on.

The former looked much more assured than his Leeds performance. Gomes is technically sound but isn’t afraid of a tackle or a spot of pressing either.

Regarding Nunes, that was probably his best Wolves performance. Play him in his best position where he can bomb on and we have a player on our hands. As for the finish, I was right behind the shot and it felt like a missile was heading straight towards me.

A word for Toti too. Like all of the defence yesterday, the work he got through was exemplary, whether that was sniffing out danger or a last-ditch tackle. Toti obviously isn’t a natural going forward, but he held his own.

The front three worked too. Cunha, Costa and Podence perhaps weren’t at their very creative best, but they linked up nicely at times and understood the need to cut out the fancy flicks. We all know Costa isn’t the player of old, but he still has something to offer leading the line. He must start there in our remaining games.

Talking of games ahead, it’s amazing to think that there’s eight left, but if we beat Brentford on Saturday then we’re almost safe. I don’t think my heart could take our safety still up for question in the last home game against Everton.

We need to lift the mood.

It was a relief to get that equaliser at the City Ground and the midweek results were favourable, but I haven’t felt good about a Wolves performance for ages.

In the earlier games of the Lopetegui era, there were positives to extract even when we didn’t win and a vibrancy about the squad that fostered enthusiasm.

The last three performances have stamped much of that out and the stock of many of these players has never been lower. Some will disagree, but I don’t think they’re as bad as they’ve made themselves look.

Even so, I’d rate our current chances of survival no better than 50/50.

Chelsea

If you’d told me Frank Lampard would be sitting in the Chelsea dugout tomorrow, I’d have assumed they’d reached desperation in their search for a goalscorer. But no, he’s back as manager for a second spell in one of the more surprising twists in this strange old season.

I can’t imagine he’ll have a significant impact in such a short period of time, but you’d have thought someone will eventually get a decent tune out of this stacked Chelsea squad.

The jury is out on all of their recent signings, but the familiar names are now returning (James, Chilwell, Kante, Kovacic, Sterling and a few others), which should help them establish consistency.

They’ve only scored six goals more than Wolves (just to underline how bad they’ve been) and profligacy killed them again in midweek with plenty of chances created against Liverpool but none taken.

They’re marooned in midtable so a push for Europe seems fanciful but are still in this season’s Champions League and head to the Bernabeu on Wednesday for the first leg of their quarter-final.

Wolves

I’ve given up trying to guess who Lopetegui will pick and have no idea who I’d pick so I’m not even sure what this XI represents.

Is Cunha a better choice than Costa or Raul? Is Hwang going to have more impact than Traore or Sarabia? Should Podence be in over Neto? Who can really say?

Similarly, in the midfield, Joao Gomes didn’t do a lot wrong against Leeds so could fill in for Ruben. Boubacar Traore is also knocking around too. It could be any combination.

Chelsea are in a similar boat, especially with a new manager with his own opinions, so at least we won’t be the only team spinning the wheel this week.

Predictions

Well done to Woodend wolf, Ben Rasmin, PeteRobbo, Pete Dunbar, Aussiewolf, vicsmith, Ash k and Rich who all predicted the 1-1 scoreline at the City Ground last weekend.

Rich remains four-points clear at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 29.

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!

It’s becoming routine.

Lovely between the boxes but miles off it at both ends.

Enough has been said about the attack but the defending has been awful recently.

Chelsea moved us around at will and the only surprise, given the oceans of space they were afforded in and around our penalty area, was it took them 47 minutes to land a punch.

I feel for Steve Davis with the paper thin squad he’s inherited but if he’s in charge next weekend we need to be a lot tighter without the ball. There was a worrying lack of cohesion that you tend to see from sides hanging around the bottom three and as much as we want to start scoring again, we mustn’t become completely soft centered at the back.

Toti came in and played well but the midfield and the wide players didn’t do enough to protect our goal. Chelsea had the handbrake on throughout and their reserves still scored as many as we’ve managed all season – another dire indictment of how bad things have become.

3-0 was perhaps a touch harsh on the balance of play but at the same time, not at all surprising given the deficiencies of the team.

Wolves carried a threat themselves, but as always it just collapsed at the final action.

Traore and Nunes both went slaloming through tackles to open doors but nobody was killing themselves to convert.

The impressive Nunes nearly did it all himself with a superb pass to Traore before heading the cross just over. If you’re looking for a positive he is starting to look like a player who could dig us out of this predicament.

Later on, Hwang scuffed a finish and Podence saw a shot blocked with the goal at his mercy but those moments would only have offered consolation with the game drifting away in the final stages.

Diego Costa barely got a sniff but will benefit from the minutes as we enter a period of games where he must fire.

Well done to Joe Hodge for a composed and competent debut. He barely put a foot wrong and the team looked more balanced after his introduction.

Whoever comes in certainly has plenty to work with but also plenty to work on, as the group are downtrodden and lacking any sort of clear direction.

It’s worrying to see and the danger of how bad this could become if the club make the wrong appointment is real.

Please, make the right one.

I hope the club manage to get the new head coach in place before next weekend.

This one feels like more of a free swing but we want to be prepared going into the Forest game.

That said, Bournemouth have experienced a ‘caretaker bounce’ since parting company with Scott Parker so maybe Davis and Collins can do the same for Wolves.

With the players missing and the form coming into the match, taking anything from Stamford Bridge would be a brilliant achievement.

Chelsea

The Blues acted swiftly to replace Thomas Tuchel and it’s so far, so good for Graham Potter with a narrow victory over Palace in the league and a more comfortable win over AC Milan in the CL on Wednesday.

He’s earned his chance to prove himself at an elite level and it will be fascinating to see what he can coax out of a talented squad.

I’m not sure many fans will believe Chelsea can compete for the title this season but if they’re in the top four and pushing in the cups, that should afford Potter the time to shape his team.

Raheem Sterling was the marquee summer signing and he’s got 4 goals across all competitions so far. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also has 2 in 2 since joining from Barcelona.

They’ve won 2 and drawn 1 in their home PL games so far but all have been closely contested with plenty of drama – late equaliser conceded to Spurs, late equaliser ruled out for West Ham and holding on with 10 men to beat Leicester.

Wolves

It’s ambitious to hope Diego Costa can do a full 90, but it would be good to see him in from the start to give the attack a proper focal point.

I haven’t heard anything about Pedro Neto but I’m going to assume he’s out. With Raul, Hwang, Neves and Collins also unavailable, that’s a hefty dent in the squad.

Both Traores should come into the side to give us more power and you’d imagine one of Toti or Mosquera will be playing in that back four this time.

Whatever they go with, it should still be a capable XI and I would hope to see them make a solid fist of things.

Predictions

Well done to Wokywolf, Ash k, Lord Twix, Shrewdsimon and Aussiewolf for correctly predicting a 2-0 defeat at West Ham.

Rich remains at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 8.

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!

If there was one player feeling the sting last weekend, I bet it was Conor Coady.

Whatever his shortcomings as a player, to be accused of not trying, of not caring, of downing tools, would have cut right to the bone for someone of his character.

How sweet then for the skipper to be the man in the right place to power home an equaliser and prove there’s still life in this much-maligned team.

It had looked like another bad day at the office for our captain after his wayward pass was returned for Romelu Lukaku to get his second of the game.

Romain Saiss had already given away our customary – if slightly soft – penalty headstart and you’d have been hard-pressed to find anyone talking about a comeback.

Even the bench was all at sea trying to solve the equation of who was coming on for the salvage job with Bruno ringing in his requests.

When they did finally sort it out, those changes turned the game on its head.

Trincao was inspired with one outstanding finish to half the deficit, albeit then squandering an easier chance to get us level. But he was right in the middle of everything as the chances continued to flow.

Chiquinho was even better, operating from right-back but galloping forward and creating all kinds of chaos with his pace and unorthodox trickery. The cross for Coady’s equaliser though was textbook brilliance.

A tough question Bruno must answer is why we haven’t seen more of this guy with our powderpuff attack firing blanks for weeks? He might be raw but he clearly possesses the necessary ability to unsettle Premier League defenders.

Prior to the subs and coming back from the dead, it looked like the only positive from the performance was the return of Pedro Neto. The real Pedro Neto. He was back to his tenacious best, snaking between defenders and making life uncomfortable for a mediocre Chelsea.

Wolves should have profited from all his good work with Ait-Nouri and Dendoncker culpable for wasting glorious openings on the break.

For once though we weren’t left ruing that impotence in front of goal and it’s a credit to this written-off, down and out team that they were able to get up off the floor and start throwing some punches.

That’s all that any fan will ever ask.

I do my share of distance running and it’s not uncommon to see people limping over the finish line.

Wolves currently resemble the same frail old man you seem to encounter at all these events, straining every sinew just to complete the race.

We made Brighton look like prime Mo Farah last weekend in what has to be the biggest surrender in recent times.

There have been a few whippings – Burnley, West Ham and Liverpool last season come to mind – but none where the team looked quite so disjointed.

Conjuring a result at Stamford Bridge would be a timely tonic, but turning it around after last Saturday feels like a marathon task.

Chelsea

The Blues are also crawling to the line. Like Wolves they’ve been wedged in the table for ages and now need a few more points to ensure they at least hold their ground.

Arsenal are just three points back, albeit with a far inferior goal difference, but there’s work still to be done in the final four games if they’re to secure third place. They do at least have an FA Cup final to look forward to, even if it is against Liverpool.

One win in four for Thomas Tuchel’s side and defeat to lowly Everton last weekend has compounded a miserable period for the Londoners after losing in the Champions League and seeing their long-time benefactor make an acrimonious exit.

It seems like another billionaire will be riding to the rescue, but they may have to be more self-sufficient moving forward.

Their home form is surprisingly spotty with just 8 wins from 16 matches but it should be noted two of the three defeats came at the hands of Man City and Arsenal.

Both N’Golo Kante and Jorginho have had injury problems in recent weeks and could be doubts ahead of tomorrow’s game.

Wolves

It was great to have Ruben back against Brighton and a relief to know his withdrawal at half-time was pre-planned. We’ll need him to do a longer stint tomorrow.

Personally, I’d look to plug that midfield and give ourselves a solid foundation to ensure we avoid the sort of collapse we saw last time.

I wouldn’t be against bringing Toti or Mosquera into that back three to give us some energy, but it would be a big ask for them in a tough fixture.

We haven’t heard anything about Semedo yet, but I assume he’s out for the season. That looked a nasty one and can’t imagine he’ll return this month.

Trincao has been frozen out lately, suggesting he’s one his way back to Barcelona, but he’s looked decent combining with Jonny at times so might be worth one last go. Ultimately, that front line needs a complete re-imagining over the summer.

Last time out

We’re unbeaten in our last three against Chelsea after the stalemate at Molineux in December. Podence had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside and Sa made a good save late-on to deny Pulisic in what was a largely forgettable game.

It was another shutout in this fixture last season as Wolves dug in to deny Tuchel a win in his first game in charge. We’d beaten them 2-1 at Molineux earlier in the campaign thanks to Pedro Neto’s brilliant late winner.

Predictions

Only two people thought Brighton would score three and both of them were 4-3 home win predictions, so no maximum scores in the Predicton League last time out.

Brompton Wolf remains clear at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 34.

As always, if you’d like to join in, 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!

A note from Dougie about an end of season Bloggers catch-up: I noticed that some bloggers have enquired about a bloggers bash ahead of the Norwich match. A few of us have a booking for early evening on Saturday 14 May at Rocco Restaurant in Darlington Street. I’m happy for people to contact me via email if they’d like to join us (singhdougie@btinternet.com).