Fulham

Gary finds a way.

With each new hamstring pull the challenge becomes harder, but his team just keep on going.

It was Bellegarde and Neto disappearing down the tunnel before half time today and with Wolves creating little even before those injuries, I was bracing myself for a rough ride.

Far from it.

A fast start to the second half was rewarded with Ait-Nouri’s opener, which itself was reward for one of his best performances in a gold shirt. With our attack decimated, his ability to break through lines is all the more important.

The same could be said of Mario Lemina, who really is super and personifies the approach of the team – flexible and willing. Put him wherever you want on the pitch and he’ll do the job. Today it was on the left of the attack and he was the most effective attacker on show.

Joao Gomes is another key player and it was his nifty footwork that opened the door for Nelson’s defected strike that looks like going down as an own goal.

Fulham could have got back in it long before their last kick of the game consolation but Jose Sa made a couple of fine reflex saves and his defenders blocked out the rest.

I thought Santi Bueno was very good and despite being left out of the starting lineup, Toti came on to remind us why he’s normally in it with another towering display and another lovely bit of skill to setup the opening goal. He is vastly underrated.

All focus now shifts to Coventry and with Gary likely to be without any fit senior attackers, the lads are going to have to dig deep to make it to Wembley.

Based on everything I’ve seen this season, I suspect they’ll find a way.

Not a great week.

Another couple of key performers limped off at Newcastle in what turned out to be a fairly limp showing overall.

Matt Hobbs has since been doing the rounds talking about the need to sell a top player every year to keep moving forward.

Maybe we just have to accept the reality of where we are as a football club in the era of PSR and hope the net result is more Brighton than Leicester?

On the sunnier side of the street, we have the comfort of looking ahead because we’re not going down and at least the club has the common sense to try and tether Gary O’Neil to a juicy new deal.

With the FA Cup quarter-final on the horizon, it would be easy to let this game slip by but I hope we don’t. It was depressing how things fizzled out under Bruno Lage in his first season and that hangover carried on into the next campaign. We don’t want a repeat.

Fulham

It’s a bad time to be playing the Cottagers. They’ve despatched Man Utd and Brighton in their last two and are gathering momentum. If they win tomorrow they’ll move ahead of us and into the top half.

In Brazilian striker Rodrigo Muniz they might have unearthed a gem. His consistent run in the side has coincided with their upturn in fortunes and is one to watch.

Raul Jimenez was just getting going himself before picking up another injury, but he might have an outside chance of featuring after returning to training. Adama Traore is back and influencing matches, albeit from the bench. He’s scored one and assisted one in his last two.

Like us, they’re probably exceeding expectations. Having sold Mitrovic in the summer, plenty of people thought they might get dragged down, but it’s been another very tidy campaign including a run to the semi-final of the League Cup.

There will be danger again in the summer with highly rated defender  Tosin Adarabioyo out of contract and Joao Palinha continually linked with a move away. Keeping hold of Marco Silva is paramount – he’s got the experience and know-how to help them maintain and where possible, build.

Wolves

I strongly believe Gary O’Neil should consider starting Nathan Fraser tomorrow.

I like the cut of this lad’s jib. He can get his body in and protect the ball, move reasonably well when he’s got it and isn’t afraid to pull the trigger.

We looked so passive at Newcastle without a proper striker and you’d have to say nobody could have done worse than Hwang in leading the line against Brighton. What do we have to lose?

Hopefully, Pedro, Joao and Jose are back to give us more of a first-team vibe. Otherwise, I fear it’s likely to be a real uphill battle against this resurgent Fulham side.

Predictions

Nobody had 3-0 to Newcastle last weekend so that’s nice and easy.

I’ll be honest, despite what I said in the intro, I’d swallow another defeat tomorrow to beat Coventry next weekend. But it’s not a straight choice and no reason we shouldn’t push for a result here. Fulham are going well, but they’re far from unbeatable.

That being said, with the injuries, their form and the return of some former players, it’s got the whiff of pain and suffering. But I’ll push that down and go for a 2-2 that just about keeps us on track for a top half finish.

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!

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!