Newcastle

Another week, another inexplicable refereeing decision.

On the general balance of play I don’t begrudge Newcastle the win. Wolves improved after the break and had their say in the game but were always living on the edge defensively.

What I do have a problem with is Nick Pope clearing Raul Jimenez out and both referees somehow coming to the conclusion it wasn’t the most blatant penalty in the history of football.

Maybe that’s a slight exaggeration but it’s got to be given. If multiple angles showing a clear foul weren’t enough the resigned look on Pope’s face should have been.

I believe I’m correct in saying that would have been both a penalty and a sending off with Pope not making an attempt for the ball, so it was a pivotal moment that would have turned the game aggressively in our favour.

It wasn’t the only decision that went against us either, with a couple of questionable calls in the build up to their opener.

Having navigated a pummeling in the run up to half time, punctuated only by a superb Podence effort that nearly brought an unlikely equaliser, the start to the second half was much brighter.

Pedro Neto looked a lot sharper than last week and the team played more cohesively with him linking the play down the right.

When Hwang bundled in the leveller it felt like the game was there for us to go on and win.

But Lopetegui’s attempt to repeat last week’s magic trick of moving to a back three went south with the team weaker at both ends after the change.

Ait-Nouri was missing in action for their winning goal (should have had a live betting punt on that being the case) and offered zero going forward to compensate. Nunes too jogged around and added nothing other than collecting the ball from defenders and passing it right back to them.

With the five subs already deployed it did feel like the game was up at that point and so it proved.

We pushed right to the end and can take solace from another closely fought game against top of the table opposition, but it definitely goes down as a missed opportunity for a much needed point.

Layer in the injustice of that first half incident and it’s another hard pill to swallow.

Apart from the result, the thing I enjoyed most about the Spurs game was some of the high pressing we saw from Wolves in the second half.

In particular, the passage of play that saw Raul, Neves and Moutinho swarm to eventually regain the ball and put Matheus Cunha in for what should have been his first goal for the club.

It’s that type of front-foot aggression that’s been sorely lacking for years now and goes a long way to explain our woeful goalscoring record.

We signed players in January to improve our pressing so it should be happening more often.

We’ll certainly need to display similar enthusiasm on Sunday to avoid getting swept away.

Newcastle

It doesn’t take a lot to turn a brilliant season sour and if the Magpies were to finish outside of the European places it would feel like a serious disappointment given their steep upward trajectory in the last 12 months.

I thought they did reasonably well in the League Cup final but shipped a couple of cheap goals and that made it easier for Man Utd to just absorb their pressure and see out the game.

Earlier in the campaign they weren’t conceding any goals and were finding it a lot easier to put the ball in the net themselves. They’ve been struggling at both ends in recent weeks, which is why they’ve been getting edged out.

They had enough of the game in recent defeats to Liverpool and Man City to have collected results so will feel if they can apply a similar performance in their next two (with a visit to Forest next week) they’ll get a positive return.

They’ve only lost once in 12 home games so far but have only managed one victory in their last seven league matches. That record must improve if they’re to bring European football back to St. James’ Park.

Wolves

Will Julen Lopetegui reward the substitutes that helped turn the game in our favour last weekend?

And would he even consider persisting with a back three? Jonny and Semedo certainly looked more comfortable with the extra body covering their tracks.

Raul, Traore and Moutinho all had a positive impact and showed the requisite enthusiasm, fight and will to win. In that respect I think Nunes in particular is lucky if he keeps his place. He has to show more.

We haven’t seen much of João Gomes or Daniel Podence lately, but as we saw from Pedro Neto’s sudden appearance against Spurs, the manager isn’t afraid to shake things up. Anyone could start or drop out.

Predictions

Well done to Matt Cook, vicsmith, St.Kitts Wolves and Ash K for all scoring maximum with a spot on prediction last time out.

Rich now has a four-point lead at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 26. He would do well at PlayUp Betting.

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!

This is the sixth one all draw between these sides since Wolves were promoted so the score shouldn’t come as a surprise.

But I’m certain we’ve not played that badly in any of those other games.

Ruben’s rifle papered over a disappointing first half in which Newcastle carried the greater threat and Wolves were limited to counter attacks and the odd break of the ball.

It didn’t get any better in the second with the home side camped out in their defensive third hoping their opponents would over commit.

On another day perhaps the foul isn’t awarded or the red card is shown but I don’t think VAR should be blamed for this latest disappointment.

With the quality Wolves possess in midfield it’s criminal that we couldn’t string two passes together for extended periods of the game and allowed a weakened Newcastle to dictate.

The front three can rightly feel they’re starved of the right service but need to produce more when they do get the ball. Raul, Neto and Guedes showed moments of promise but simply didn’t impact the game enough with or without the ball.

That brings us onto the substitutions, which were beyond baffling at a point in the game when Wolves couldn’t establish any sort of foothold.

Newcastle were winning all of the duels and physically superior in the middle of the pitch. Bruno Lage’s response was to deploy two weakling wide players to stem the tide.

With Dendoncker and Traore watching on, Hwang promptly teed up Saint Maximan for the equaliser and Podence barely touched the ball as the visitors ended the game hunting a winning goal.

These are testing times for the head coach and this extended sequence without a Premier League victory can’t be ignored. He needs a victory in the next two or the pressure will soon become intense.

With a transfer window entering it’s final days and a midweek trip to a team that just got whacked for 9, there are equal measures of opportunity and despair at stake.

We must come out on the right side.

This post is dedicated to our friend Clive From Houston. There will be a dedicated post to share memories and messages of condolences in due course.

I hope Wolves can get this deal over the line for Saša Kalajdzic or another forward with similar characteristics.

Raul got on the scoresheet in midweek and remains our only viable opinion up front but his (understandable) loss of heading ability has contributed to our blunt attack.

9 of his 40 Premier League goals have been headers and it’s telling that he hasn’t scored one since fracturing his skull.

Once Preston got into shape, particularly in the second half, we lacked the power in the penalty area to unsettle their defenders and that’s been an all too familiar story for over two seasons now.

Despite this deficiency, there’s more than enough quality in this Wolves side to win Premier League matches and they need to start delivering.

Newcastle

It was the Magpies arriving at (and leaving) Molineux without a victory last season but they were victorious on opening day this time and have followed that up with two credible draws against Brighton and Man City.

Eddie Howe must be delighted with that start, even if they did surrender a two-goal lead against the Champions last Sunday.

The cash injection has so far focused on fixing their defence with goalkeeper Nick Pope and defenders Trippier, Targett, Burn and former Wolves target Botman all arriving a St. James’ Park.

There’s a nice balance in midfield with plenty of physical power and technical capability. They also have a goalscorer in Callum Wilson and a back-up in Chris Wood who scores nearly every time he steps on the pitch against us.

£60 million forward in Alexander Isak is imminent too, but hopefully not in time to feature on Sunday.

They’re bouncing though, no doubt about it and will come with expectations of winning.

Wolves

We’re definitely seeing more of the ball and rightfully so given the players we have in midfield, but that possession has got to translate into creating chances and scoring goals.

There are several decisions for Bruno Lage to make but I think the above XI is something like what we’ll see at the weekend.

I expect Semedo to make his way back into the team but which of the other two full-backs drop out is anyone’s guess. Ait-Nouri gives you more width but Jonny is smarter positionally and a better passer. Neither have been great so far though so can have few complaints if they’re benched.

In midfield, do we pick the three best technicians or sacrifice one for the physicality and penalty-box presence of Dendoncker?

You would have thought the front three would be as above, but Traore got his goal in midweek and Daniel Podence is still the only player to score a Premier League goal for Wolves this season. Both might be considered.

There’s so much industry between Neto and Guedes, that you’ve got to think all those hard yards will eventually pay dividends with some returns.

Predictions

Well done to Desert Wolf for being the only person to get any scoreline correct so far this season by predicting a 1-0 loss against Spurs.

It is Desert Wolf who leads the way in the overall table at the end of Gameweek 3 (under their original pseudonym).

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!

This was a game of two halves and neither were good.

In the first, Wolves played in reverse gear, barely crossing halfway and inviting Newcastle forward.

And when gold shirts finally did venture upfield in the second, they created little and were continually exposed on the counter.

My feeling is the manager has to take the heat for not changing things before Newcastle struck the decisive blow.

Bruno can point to the paucity of options on the bench with four of his go-to players unavailable, but the shape of the side never felt right so it was disappointing that Plan B failed to materialise.

Defeat would have been easier to swallow had we thrown caution to the wind trying to win, but much like the losses to West Ham and Palace this was a passive surrender with changes only arriving after the damage had been inflicted.

Considering the European places were within reach and a draw did little to aid our cause, why not go to a back four, push onto them and see if they’re good enough to cope?

Why not throw Semedo, Neto and Saiss into the game, get more senior pros onto the pitch and take some risk?

It just felt like a free hit and for reasons unknown we refused to swing.

Individually, I thought Fabio did quite well with limited service and aside from one good run from an otherwise hapless Hwang, was the only player making anything happen.

His smart turn and shot was the sole glimmer of hope offered in Wolves tame attempt to claw their way back into a contest that can be neatly filed away as one to forget.

I don’t think the others were worthy of particular praise or criticism, the combined effort and approach just wasn’t there on the night.

With a fortnight to stew on it and get some bodies back on the pitch, we must hope for better at Burnley.

The gap to sixth is only two points, but it will still take a strong finish to make it into the European places.

By my reckoning, something like 62 points is going to be the minimum requirement and that means four wins and a draw at least from the remaining seven games.

The obvious route is beating Newcastle, Burnley, Brighton and Norwich leaving us to scab a point off Chelsea, Man City or Liverpool.

Not impossible, but far from straightforward.

As the lads like to say though, we go one game at a time and this will be a good test at a rejuvenated St. James’ Park.

Newcastle

Expect a hot atmosphere tomorrow night because the Geordies know they’re probably one more win away from securing their Premier League status.

Three successive defeats have just reintroduced a small amount of doubt, but in context, two of those losses were to Chelsea and in-form Spurs.

Although they still need to play Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal, their other winnable fixtures combined with a decent head start should be sufficient for survival.

The money they spent in January looks like money well spent with Trippier (now injured), Burn, Targett and Wood all making contributions in important wins. Marquee signing Bruno Guimarães has had limited game time but got his first goal a few weeks back and may well start tomorrow.

Allan Saint-Maximin is their most obvious attacking threat while Chris Wood has an excellent scoring record against Wolves so limiting service to both of those players will be key.

The home end

Some comments lifted from the pre-match thread on a popular Newcastle forum.

There won’t be much in this at all. Wolves have the best away record in the league outside the top three. The foundation of that is they’re a really solid defensive unit. That’ll be boosted by the returns of Boly and Semedo. While defensively solid they have found goals hard to come by and that won’t be helped with missing their biggest two threats in Neves and Jiminez. That means they’ll be relying on a tricky but erratic front three of Podence, Trincao and Silva to do the damage.  Yesterday’s horror show aside. We haven’t conceded more than one goal in a game since December, but much like Wolves we haven’t exactly been electric in front of goal either. I do think we have to factor in a bouncing SJP under the lights. I think this will be a fairly low scoring game and I’m torn between 0-0 or 1-0 to us.

Win this, get beat off Leicester, beat Palace and stay up.  Buy 16 new players in the summer and win the league next season. Easy.

They are super good on the counter, and very hard to break down. I wouldn’t personally go pressing these too high. They are such a well drilled team, and that midfield is very dominant. Lage has done a great job.

I can’t see where our goals will come from at the minute, we haven’t scored nor looked like scoring from open play since the Southampton game. Couple this with playing one of the best defences in the league and I think we will do well to get a draw.

Wolves

Well done to Bruno for going the opposite way to my proposed tactics for the Villa game and being proven 100% correct. I didn’t think a midfield two would do enough to stop them playing through us, but Moutinho and Dendoncker did superbly and the front three got into their defence far better than I expected.

It’s a different proposition away from home so I wonder if we’ll see changes? It would be harsh for anyone to drop out, but it is difficult to second guess Bruno as he will adapt to suit a particular game.

The wingback situation is very interesting. Semedo was in contention for Player of the Season prior to his injury but Jonny has come into the side and looks even better. You’ve then got the talented Ait-Nouri and the more physically capable Marcal offering great options down the other side. I can see there being a lot of rotation between these players between now and May.

Fabio and Trincao have seen their stock surge in recent weeks but they have to prove they can perform consistently. Podence continues to infuriate and dazzle in almost equal measures so it’s a very mercurial front three.

Last time out

Wolves were worthy winners at Molineux earlier in the season. We should have been a couple of goals up before Newcastle got level in contentious fashion, blasting the ball into an empty net after Jose Sa was seemingly taken out in the build-up. But Hwang got his second smartly taken goal of the game to win it in the second half.

Both games ended 1-1 last season with Ruben Neves equalising via a smart diving header at St James’ Park. Newcastle had dominated up to that point but Wolves could have won it late on and Fabio saw a point-blank header clawed out right at the death.

Predictions

Well done to Dek, Wokingham Welsh Wolf, WOLFSTROKER, Balsall Heathen Wolves, St.Kitts Wolves, DeptfordWolf, Franski, Dallas Bob, Brompton Wolf, The Dodgster and Telford Wolf for all getting a maximum with a correct scoreline prediction against Villa.

Brompton Wolf remains clear at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 31.

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!

Polite request – when commenting in the preview article after the game has finished, can you not place score predictions in the boxes, please? It confuses the system. Many thanks.