Fulham

Four bad decisions in one game is tough to swallow, even by this season’s ludicrous standards.

I feel most aggrieved about the penalty given against Semedo after the replay showed a clear touch of the ball and with it, a clear and obvious error. That is a clanger.

The Gomes penalty is straddling the line but having not been given on the pitch, it was incredible that the VAR intervened having failed to do so for the first penalty.

Should Tim Ream have been given a second yellow for bringing down Hwang for the one decision we did get? Possibly.

Should Vinicius have been given a straight red for head butting Kilman? Definitely.

Even one of these calls going our way probably prevents this contest from ending in defeat so despite another iffy second half showing I struggle to be too critical of the players’ efforts.

Wolves aren’t brilliant and they aren’t awful so these types of games are always going to come down to small moments and you simply can’t keep your head above water up against such a sustained assault from the officials.

Gary O’Neil spoke well afterwards and his ‘what’s the point?’ demeanour is the measured response that was needed. We can kick and scream all we want, but nothing is going to change in the short term.

On the non-contentious parts of the game, I felt their first goal was too soft and they got in far too easily down that left side all evening.

Bellegarde did superbly for the equaliser and continues to look a brilliant find.

Santi Bueno did alright, but there were one or two uncomfortable moments and I struggle to see him keeping Dawson out of the side.

With both Lemina and Gomes suspended for the trip to Arsenal, the task becomes significantly harder.

It’s a big ask going to the Emirates and hoping for a change of fortune, but after all we’ve endured with just over a third of the season gone, it’s already overdue.

That was a pleasant couple of weeks, wasn’t it?

Luxuriating in the Spurs result for a fortnight, safely ensconced in the warm embrace of midtable. Lovely.

Given our performance levels and the struggles of the three promoted sides, we didn’t need the bonus of Everton’s points deduction but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

Between now and Christmas the challenge is to get enough points on the board to extinguish the idea of relegation and spend the second half of the campaign focused on getting as high as possible.

There’s a vibrancy to the squad we haven’t seen for a while and genuine cause for optimism. Please keep it going Wolves.

Fulham

A couple of years ago it would have sounded impossible that Raul and Adama would leave for Fulham for a combined fee of around £5 million.

Both players seemed destined for the elite, but I suppose their decline embodied the collapse of those glory days under Nuno. I wish them both well.

Neither have really done much in London so far with Adama sidelined by injury and Raul’s only goal a late consolation at Villa Park last time out.

With talisman Mitrovic leaving in the summer they really need those two to fire and maybe it will come good for them again – but hopefully not on Monday.

The three games they’ve won so far have been against Luton, Sheff Utd and Everton and none have been convincing. Added to that, only Burnley have scored fewer goals than Marco Silva’s side.

They’ve got some useful players and a good coach but they’re weaker than last season and with João Palinha almost certain to leave in January I think midtable should probably be the limit of their aspirations.

Wolves

It’s a shame Pedro is still out but the Spurs win gives us some breathing room. The performance also demonstrated we can play well and win without him.

With Dawson suspended I would have thought Santi Bueno just slots in there and we keep everything else the same. The Uruguayan has barely had a kick since joining in the summer, so I’m looking forward to seeing if he can do a job.

Sarabia might consider himself unlucky to be left out having been the match winner last time (he also scored in this fixture last season) but I’d keep him in reserve again.

Predictions

Well done to Dek, AussieWolf, Steppenwolfe, t’OM, SteadyEddie, Ben Rasmin, GoWolves, Winchcombe Wolf, Marin Wolf, Deptford Wolf, St. Kitty’s Wolves, Woodend Wolf, basherbaz, Dallas Bob, Liz, Wolves Fan Across the Pond, Aquilador, Happy Claptrap, Teddy and Wolfstroker who all correctly predicted the score against Spurs.

I’m going to back us a for a narrow victory this time. Dawson’s absence worries me but if Santi can do a decent job I think there should be opportunities for our attacking players to do damage. The second half in our last away game at Sheffield Utd showed we still have potential to be flakey but I hope that performance was more of a learning exercise than what we can expect away from Molineux. 2-1 to the old gold.

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!

It is worrying that none of the teams at the bottom are prepared to lay down and die.

Everton, Southampton, Bournemouth and even Wolves have looked like being cut adrift at one stage or another, only to muscle their way back into contention.

Losing last weekend has really left things in the balance for us, but results elsewhere continue to highlight the importance of seeing every game as a chance to collect a result.

There’s no reason at all we can’t bounce back immediately at Craven Cottage.

Fulham

The Cottagers (does anyone still call them that?) are having that dream first season back in the Premier League that Wolves enjoyed all those years ago.

They’ve even got a Portuguese manager in the dugout, a Portuguese midfielder at the heart of the action and the same shirt design and sponsor we had in 2018. Copycats.

On a more serious note, well done to them for finding stability after so many yoyo years. They probably haven’t got the credit they deserve considering they sit just four points below the Champions League places.

Victory against fellow European hopefuls Brighton last weekend was another big result made all the more impressive by the fact they were without Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Their 11-goal top scorer missed the game with a hamstring injury and is a possible doubt for tomorrow. I sincerely hope he doesn’t play.

It’s been said before but Wolves made a huge mistake not going all out to get João Palhinha in the summer. He’s been one of the stars of the Premier League season. If I was sports betting, I’d have put the house on him being a Wolves player in the summer.

Wolves

Julen got it wrong against Bournemouth. It was too cautious against a team that came to defend. Fortunately, not many others will deploy that tactic between now and May.

I expect to see Lemina re-instated to the starting XI against another of his former clubs. Costa, who was unlucky not to start against Bournemouth in my opinion, would give us a better focal point to the attack.

It’s a coin toss between Cunha and Traore but the latter has shown he can give us something extra from the bench in the later stages of a game.

How long can we go with Cunha, Costa, Sarabia and Raul all remaining on zero Premier League goals? Something has to give, surely? A law of average or something.

Predictions

Nobody thought we’d lose to Bournemouth last time out so it was a total blank.

Rich, therefore, remains 3 clear at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 23.

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!

Let’s face it, watching Wolves last season was a slog at times.

Despite Bruno Lage professing to be an attack-minded coach, his convictions often failed to translate to positive returns on the pitch.

As we all know, the reasons for that are not solely down to Lage himself. The lack of backing from Fosun has been well publicised.

However, over £50m has been pumped into the team so far this summer and, on today’s evidence, we still look paper-weight up top.

It’s getting to the point where I’m actually impressed by how woeful we are in front of goal.

Time and time again, we got in behind the Fulham defence only to blaze the ball over the bar or cross it meekly into their keeper’s hands.

Much of that is down to the fact that we seem to have gathered together an identikit of attackers who all want to do the same thing.

None of the current crop of forwards (Guedes excluded, on account of him only just arriving at the club) appear to possess the cutting edge needed to decide games like this.

And, at the risk of me hitting the panic button after two games, that is a huge cause for concern.

Our attacking statistics made for grim reading last season and, with the league looking far more competitive this term, we all know a major improvement is needed.

The question is – can Fosun finance it without cashing in on one of our crown jewels?

On today’s evidence, I’d be fighting tooth and nail to keep Gibbs-White. He was often at the heart of our attacking play, though he should have buried his big chance early in the second half.

Ait-Nouri, on the other hand, is one I’d consider cashing in on if rumours of Man City’s interest are to be believed. Sure, he’s a huge prospect but he once again proved himself to be defensively suspect by handing Fulham the chance to steal all three points.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he’ll cut those mistakes out with time but if it came down to losing him or Neves I know who I’d rather keep.

It feels like Groundhog Day to be writing this again, but what we do in the next few weeks will have a huge impact on our prospects this season.

Over to you Mr. Shi.

At the risk of upsetting a lot of Leeds supporters, I don’t think they’re very good.

As a consequence I expect the further we get away from that game the worse the result is going to look.

They pressed well and were generally tenacious out of possession but it’s concerning how little they had to do with the ball to get the win.

Our attacking players should have done more damage with the possession they enjoyed and we should have managed things better in our own half to avoid inviting them onto us in dangerous areas of the pitch.

Perhaps home advantage and the addition of another useful attacking player will help deliver a more favourable outcome on Saturday.

Fulham

You never want to play a newly promoted team early in the season and especially coming in off a great performance against Liverpool.

Their tails will be wagging so Wolves have to nullify that exuberance and control the game. We couldn’t do it against Brentford last season in one of the more pitiful home performances of the campaign.

Aleksander Mitrovic scored more goals in the Championship last season than Wolves managed in the Premier League and he’s also out to an early lead this season following a brace on opening day. I’ve always felt he was a top-class striker and 46 goals in 74 for Serbia backs that up.

João Palhinha seemed destined for Wolves and I was shocked to see him sign for Fulham. I’m keen to get a good look at him on Saturday and see what he brings to their midfield.

They’ll be without Harry Wilson and summer signing Manor Solomon at Molineux with Marco Silva lamenting their lack of cover in attack this week. They did add Man Utd midfielder Andreas Pereira and he has plenty of talent.

In defence, they’ve recruited Issa Diop from West Ham and they’ll need to be tighter defensively than they’ve been in the past to have any chance of staying up. I do think they’ll be towards the bottom of the table by the finish.

Wolves

Coady out and Guedes in does balance the squad better – whatever else you want to say about those deals. I’d expect the new guy to go straight into the side.

Is he the definitive answer to our goalscoring problems? It’s hard to feel confident about another out-to-in attacker but he did lead the line well for Valencia last season.

The team conjured up a great goal against Leeds and several other good chances so I feel confident they can improve the goal-a-game average we’ve seen in recent seasons. There’s certainly a commitment to attacking with greater purpose.

I’m not sure about the fitness of Moutinho, Hwang or Traore but it would be handy to have any of them available if only to give Bruno a few options from the bench.

Predictions

Nobody correctly predicted the 2-1 scoreline at Elland Road but a few did get on the board by guessing the outcome.

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!