Watford

I think the crisis might be over.

After the no-show against Palace, Wolves needed to turn up tonight. Especially after Bruno Lage took the uncharacteristic step of verbally eviscerating one of his players.

Another dour performance would have threatened to put a dampener on what has otherwise been an excellent season.

Thankfully, this was a test that the Wanderers passed with flying colours.

Granted, Watford are by far and away the worst team we’ve faced this season. But you’ve still got to get the job done.

The fact that the feat was accomplished within less than half an hour was certainly a surprise.

What was less shocking was how much more fluid we looked with Jimenez back in the side, with reports of his demise unsurprisingly proving to be ill-founded.

Podence playing as a more traditional number 10 also aided our fortunes. The diminutive Portuguese is far more effective when occupying the pockets of space that are to be found between defence and midfield, and so it proved tonight.

That being said, our most gilt-edged chances were laid on by a player in opposition colours. Spare a thought for professional vlogger/part-time footballer Ben Foster tonight, because it’s going to be a long old journey back to Hertfordshire for him.

Joking aside, the real MVP of the evening was the man who bagged our sumptuous fourth. Neves was simply majestic this evening, his strike capping off a dominant performance in the heart of midfield.

We’ve got Neves was the cry of the Molineux faithful, but perhaps sign him up would have been a more fitting chant. As I said on Twitter earlier today, tying Ruben down to a new deal has to be top of Jeff Shi’s to-do list. It would be a huge statement of intent for us to keep hold of our best player and build the team around him. A player of his extraterrestrial talents deserves no less.

It was also great to see Boly and Jonny back in the fold. The former was a more than able deputy for Kilman, who was rightfully taken out of the lineup after some shaky displays as of late, while the latter was effervescent down the right hand side.

All in all, a very productive evening at the Molineux. The challenge now is to keep the momentum going and to try and put another of the league’s basement sides to the sword on Sunday.

Our thin squad is often used as a stick to beat the club with, but there have been advantages to working with a smaller group.

Picking a consistent XI with only minor turnover in personnel over time is a good way to build understanding between players and establish patterns of play. Case in point the first half of the season for Wolves.

Getting a few more bodies back is good, but I think Bruno has made wholesale changes in the last two games and that’s contributed to the slump.

The wingbacks got injured so that was unavoidable and might be the main reason there was such a worrying lack of cohesion throughout the team against Palace.

But two experimental front three combinations have failed miserably and with enforced changes elsewhere, I think he should have stuck with the more tried and tested up top.

We don’t want to lose four in a row, so even if this becomes about grunting out a result with an ugly performance to address the slide, so be it.

Watford

There were a few triggered Watford fans earlier in the season when people – including myself – pointed out they fire a lot of managers. They’re now on their third manager of the season.

On reflection, they probably should have gone straight to Roy in the first place, as I think he represents the best chance they have of staying up.

Results haven’t exactly been great since he stepped in, but an important victory at Villa Park and a draw at Old Trafford were both pocketed without conceding a goal and tightening the team up defensively was essential.

Arsenal put three past them at the weekend, but they scored two themselves and more than had their say in that game.

I suspect they might have left themselves a bit too much to do over the last 11 games, but with Leeds and Everton flailing you never know. Interestingly, both of those clubs, along with Burnley and Brentford still have to go to Vicarage Road so those will be the games that decide their fate.

They’ve been better on their travels to date with three wins and three draws from their 13 matches and just 16 goals conceded, which is highly competitive.

Wolves

I was glad to hear Bruno kicking off after that meek surrender on Saturday. He shouldn’t have gone in so hard on Hoever, but the point he was making about ‘too many kids’ was probably a veiled dig at the owners over the lack of backing he’s received.

The above is the XI I would be picking subject to availability. We can’t allow ourselves to be overrun in midfield again so a third body in there makes sense.

I thought Jonny did some good things in possession after coming on (despite giving it away a few times too) and with him and Ait-Nouri in the side I think we’d get more control in possession and attacking thrust in the final third.

Podence is an infuriating player because his all-around play is often appalling, but he also looks the most likely to deliver returns around the penalty area. I wouldn’t be upset if it was Hwang or Neto in that position though. Raul must start.

Last time out

We got a deserved victory at Vicarage Road – our first in the league this season – thanks to two of the scruffiest goals you’re ever likely to see. But we took control of the game in the second half and were good value for the three points.

The last game between the sides at Molineux feels like an eternity ago but was that early season 2-0 win that we used as a springboard to climb the table. Matt Doherty scored the opener and an own goal secured the points. They did beat us later in the season but it wasn’t enough to save them from relegation.

The odds

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Predictions

Well done to @#£&?!/* (yes, you did read that correctly) who was the only one to guess the 0-2 defeat to Palace on Saturday.

Brompton Wolf is clear at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 27.

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.

However Jeff tries to spin it, Fosun dropped two almighty clangers in the transfer window by not signing a centre back and physical midfielder.

But they did get it right with the brave decision of moving on from Nuno and embarking on an exciting new style with Lage.

Wolves are a heck of a lot more enjoyable to watch than any time in the past 12 months. And that’s all I ask as a fan – an identity that you can relate to and see has the potential to deliver.

Although, perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the win at Watford was the need to ‘guts’ it out for the first time under Lage.

It was yet another bright start with a number of attractive phases of play. Lovely to watch but with a nagging fear that the goal would again fail to materialise.

From around 20 minutes until our opener in the 74^th, Watford’s physicality and ease of getting in behind Marcal and Saiss left me uneasy. Frustrations of not signing a Sissoko midfield type or replacing Saiss crossed my mind.

However, Wolves always had a press or sumptuous sequence of passes at their disposal, and that pressure eventually told.

Of course, our first league goal under Bruno had to come via an own goal, but it was reassuring to witness Marcal offer something in the opposition box with a clever cross for the assist. Cue relief/pandemonium in the away end.

As for the second, a goal involving all of the front three (Raul, Podence and Hwang) was thrilling to see.

Having Podence and Hwang to introduce off the bench gives us great depth in the forward positions, and they both made an impact. Especially with Raul still feeling his way back to form, the wide forwards need to share the load.

The final word has to go to Neves. The 2017/18 Ruben that we all originally fell in love with is back. Watching him stroke the ball around with effortless panache, or darting around trying to win it back, is a sight to behold. Make no mistake, this is HIS midfield. And whisper it quietly, Moutinho is rediscovering a new lease of life in a crucial supporting role.

This is what happens when you task your creative talents with playing to their strengths.

You might have a sunny outlook because we’ve played well and created lots of chances against good teams or feel glum about zero points and goals.

Either way, the next four games will tell us everything we need to know.

Watford, Brentford, Southampton and Newcastle are all going to provide stern opposition, but if we can’t get the job done in at least a couple of these games, we’ve got a big problem.

I’m worried we’ll continue to look good between the boxes and be found lacking in the big moments but agree the performances have all merited points and if we maintain the level, results will come.

Watford

The Hornets bounced back to the Premier League at the first time of asking with an impressive 91 point haul to secure second place in the Championship.

A whopping 59 of those points came at Vicarage Road where they battered pretty much everyone to secure 19 wins and 2 draws from their 23 games. Impressive.

They took that home momentum into this season and sprinted into a 3-0 lead against Villa before holding on for a morale-boosting 3-2 win.

Two defeats on the road to Brighton and Spurs have followed, but back at their fortress, they’ll feel confident about getting another result.

It’s a different Watford team to the one we grappled with a few years back. There’s no Troy Deeney, Deulofeu or Foster these days but plenty of familiar Premier League foes like former Bournemouth striker Josh King and recent midfield recruit Moussa Sissoko.

Winger Ismaïla Sarr still seems to be the main man and is constantly linked with a move to one of the big six. He’ll be one to look out for tomorrow.

The home end

Some views lifted from the pre-match thread on a popular Watford forum:

This game will mark a new age for WFC. An almost entirely new forward line and midfield starters, and a lot of players who are past their prime/surplus to requirements/allegedly disruptive/uncommitted moved on. There isn’t much to go on yet, but the early signs are that most of our new signings really want to be here and are putting in the effort. My current assessment is that we’re a better side than the one that went down, even if some of the individual players in the relegation squad were better on paper. We’ve got some steel in the side now, a boat load of pace, and players that seem to want to actually play for the club instead of feeling they’re doing us a favour. Hopefully we can mark the start of this new era with a good performance against Wolves, who look like they might be there for the taking.

Yes. I’m pretty sure Wolves are in a false position. They gave Man U a hard time last match. They might have lost some of their impetus from 2 years ago, but they have good players. All games are hard to predict, but this one particularly so; It might well be a good game, as both teams begin to sort themselves out with all their changes.

They’re the new Sheff Utd, they’re competitive in games and only losing by a single goal but if you can’t score enough then you’re going to struggle. Plus their defence is awful, Sarr and Dennis should be gagging to play against that backline.

They played well against Salford Reds. No doubt they will see this as a great opportunity to take three points. We just need to show the same level of commitment, energy and skill on display against Villa and defensive solidity against Tottenham.

You can also look at it another way. This could be a great time to play Wolves. I think we agree that they are a better team than their results suggest, but they (and their new manager) will be terrified of losing a fourth game in a row and going even below Arsenal in the table. If we could score first they might well disintegrate in a blue funk.

Wolves

As I write this, I’m still not sure if Raul Jimenez can play or not. If he can’t that’s a blow because I’m looking at this run of games as a proper launchpad for his season.

The only non-enforced change I would consider to the above lineup would be bringing Boly in for Saiss or Kilman – probably Saiss based on performance levels, but I do like the idea of having both Saiss and Boly in the team to attack set pieces.

Hopefully we also get a look at Hwang Hee-chan at some point to see if he can offer something different to that front line.

I’ve been impressed with our wingbacks in recent weeks and their contribution is vital in a back three. Last season, we didn’t get enough out of them, which I felt was a big reason we didn’t score many goals.

Last time out

We lost 2-1 on our last visit to Vicarage Road with Pedro Neto scoring what turned out to be a consolation goal after Doucoure and Deulofeu put them two up. They finished the game with 10 men, but Wolves couldn’t break them down.

Earlier in the season, Wolves won 2-0 at Molineux to get us back on track after another sluggish start. Matt Doherty and a Janmaat own goal gave us the points.

Predictions

Well done to Matthew Cook, King of the cowshed, Mike Jones, Shready and Sea Pigeon who all correctly predicted a 1-0 defeat to Man Utd and pick up the maximum 3 points.

King of the cowshed and Ash K lead the overall PL table at the end of Gameweek 3.

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!

We actually did it.

We benefitted from VAR.

It was the correct call too with Jota unequivocally denied a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Still, it’s a shame he didn’t get his shot away as Watford’s goal was rarely threatened from that point onwards with the extra man doing little to aid our efforts.

If anything, they were a tougher nut to crack with 10 men, abandoning any attacking adventure in favour of sitting deep and closing the gaps. It worked very well.

The lesson is, don’t be two goals down in the first place.

Dendoncker’s loose pass cancelled out some encouraging moments in a closely contested first half, gifting the ball to Deulofeu in the exact area of the pitch he likes it – great finish in fairness.

Jimenez was similarly wasteful in the build-up to their second, but even so, it felt too easy for Doucoure to engineer the shooting angle.

Little to no surprise that once Dendoncker was restored to the back three and Neves introduced in midfield, we dictated the remainder of the game.

I’m pleased for Neto as he was again lively and direct throughout. He deserved the luck that helped him open his Premier League account for the second game running.

I wouldn’t have given him the hook either as I felt he had more to offer in the remaining minutes. Jimenez – who didn’t have a great game – could have gone off with Jota deployed down the middle perhaps?

Either way, Neto is the major positive to come out of these back-to-back defeats. He’s proven himself a very capable option in attack.

On the other end of the scale, it’s unfair to single out Ryan Bennett, who did little to directly damage our prospects, but it’s undeniable to me that we’re infinitely weaker when we don’t have three good ball-playing center halves.

That’s one area I expect to be addressed in the coming weeks.

For now, we just file this one away as disappointing, learn from the mistakes and move on.

And if you need a pick me up, just remember we lost the first game of 2019 too and things didn’t turn out too badly in the end.

Happy New Year!

I thought we were quite lucky to beat Watford back in September for that crucial first league victory.

Still, it proved a catalyst for the good form that’s since seen us eclipse the efforts of the first half of last season. Quite some achievement.

Watford will be keen to avenge that defeat and the loss they suffered in this fixture last season, which handed the initiative to Wolves in the quest for European football.

Nigel Pearson has got them winning again and with our old friend Troy Deeney back in the mix, it promises to be a feisty old affair.

Watford

I’ve never written Watford off, even after sacking their second manager of the season.

I thought things looked bleak a few weeks ago, but have always maintained they’ve got the players to produce the type of run required to make things interesting.

And having seen off Man Utd and Villa in their last two home matches, sandwiching a useful draw at Sheffield Utd between, they’re doing more than making it interesting – they’re now just 3 points from safety.

Mid-table form is required over the second half of the campaign to survive and given that’s where I think they should be, it’s not a huge ask.

Like him or loathe him, Deeney gives them that focal point they lack in his absence and with record signing Ismaila Sarr now coming good, they’re looking formidable in attack.

If Pearson continues to keep them organised at the back, they’re a tough old proposition.

The home end

Some comments lifted from the pre-match thread on The Hornet’s Nest Forum.

This is going to be a very hard game. I said it in a previous thread – but to me, this is going to be as tough as Liverpool was. Wolves are much better than Man Utd are too, they work hard, run fast and under Nuno have a fantastic coach who makes them play for every ball and chase down every lost cause. Seeing Cathcart and Hughes go off yesterday was a blow, but we won’t know till nearer the game if either, both or neither will take part. I think Preyera in the middle is a good choice – spray some balls out to Sarr and Delafoo and try to get behind them. Deeney will more than likely head the forward line again and after listening to him alongside Gavin Mahon and Emma Saunders on Added Time, he knows this is a tough game. I would easily take a draw from this one, then follow it up with wins over Tranmere and Muff. We are not going to win every home game under Pearson we know that. If we show fight and keep up our high intensity, we are more than capable of getting something out of it. Although not beyond us to win it – it’s a really hard game. But I am sure Pearson will not allow the players to drop their style despite tough opposition. Watford 2 Wolves 2

Would be over the moon with a draw. They’re a great team, they are always at it and ultimately they are better than us all over the pitch. They’re obviously mindful of burning out with the two big games they’ve just played and want to leave something in the tank for us, because they rested a couple of key players from the start today including traore.

I’d be happy with a point but at the same time I’d be disappointed we didn’t go for a win, and I trust Nigel won’t instill that kind of mentality like Flores would’ve. Their strength clearly lies in attack (the only games they’ve failed to score being Leicester away on the opening day and Liverpool just now who are beating everyone) and being hard to beat, but apart from the games against City they’ve only beaten bottom five teams and surprisingly, have only kept four clean sheets against our six. But I don’t know if this is as good as they’ll get, or they’ve yet to move up a gear or two – if the latter, hopefully it’ll be after playing us!

Wolves

Back to the tried and tested for me. I thought the changes worked out well for us at Anfield, but we need to get on the front foot more in this one.

With rumours circulating that Patrick Cutrone could be moving on and Jesus Vallejo likely following him out the door, a few new faces would be handy in January.

I think Neto looks increasingly useful and with Vinagre, Bennett, Kilman and (fingers crossed) Boly all looking up to scratch, if we can replace the two summer recruits with better versions, we’ll be in good shape for everything that’s to come.

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Predictions

Quite a few people predicted Wolves to lose at Anfield but nobody said 1-0, so it’s a rare Gameweek with no maximums scored. Well done to Iceni Wolf though who tops the table as we cross into the second half of the season. View the full PL table here.

If you’d like to join in this week simply leave your prediction in the comment section below using the boxes provided.

That’s where you’ll also find my best guess for this one.

Up The Wolves!

Happy New Year To Everyone From Wolves Blog!