Watford

As good as Wolves have been they can get better.

An air tight defence has got us where we are with only 6 goals conceded. The teams around us in the table like Bournemouth, Leicester and our opponents tomorrow have all shipped twice as many while Man Utd have let in 14.

If the team remains as organised and resolute as it has been in recent weeks, it will be tough for anyone to find a way through.

But equally startling is the paucity of goals scored. 9 in 8 games is pretty measly when you consider the arsenal of attacking weapons at the team’s disposal.

I’m of the firm belief we will at some point get a more complete performance at both ends of the pitch, which is an exciting prospect to say the least.

Watford are the type of side who may allow us the openings so hopes are high it could be this weekend.

Watford

It always seems to be all or nothing with Watford, constantly straddling that line between unfathomable success and total failure.

After a rapid start, they’ve subsequently lost three of their last four and were completely swept aside by Bournemouth in their previous outing.

Javi Gracia said it was first game they didn’t really compete and I can believe him. They’ve got a compelling mixture of finesse and grit which makes them a dangerous proposition.

They’ve gone with two strikers in previous years and this season is no different with Troy Deeney and Wolverhampton-born Andre Gray leading the line.

With technicians like Will Hughes, Etienne Capoue and Roberto Pereyra tucked in behind alongside the powerful Abdoulaye Doucouré, they’re boasting some serious talent.

Incredible to think they also had Richarlison last season. The recruitment at the club has been outstanding in recent years.

Despite so many positive attributes consistency always seems to be an issue and they do concede goals, which is definite cause for optimism from our perspective.

The away end

I lifted the following from the match thread on a popular Watford fan forum.

Not got much hope for this game as wolves have played well in most games and one of our squad centre backs will be playing. 0-2.

Can’t see anything other than us getting a bit of a pasting I’m afraid.

Wolves seem to be this season’s Bournemouth – Lineker and his merry men fawning over them, saying how great their style of play is, what a great bloke their weirdy beardy manager is. As far as I’m concerned Espirito Santo’s greatest achievement is making me agree with Colin about his arrogance.

Yes, “a bit of a pasting” just about sums up my prediction. The forwards seem to have stopped scoring and the defence will be decimated. 3-0 wolves.

Play like we have done overall we may snag a point. They are looking like the sort of side to sit back and win games late on, either that or come back and get a result. Both of which we have are also more than capable of. Regardless of the actual result it’s more interesting to see the line up. Will Success start? Will Chalobah get a sniff? Will gray get dropped to second half sub? I really can’t see anything past a loss. If Gracia has us fired up from last fortnight we may grab a draw. Wolves are playing well and picking up points, we seem to of gone backwards not in terms of effort but goal scoring. Something Wolves have little trouble with. 1-3

The odds

Wolves are 3/4 favourites for the win, while Watford are 17/4 and the draw is 11/4. If you want to make some serious dosh probably best to place an accumulator with bet365 and try a few of the markets to pump up your returns. Jota is 5/1 for first goalscorer, while Andre Gray is 9/1 for the Hornets.

Wolves

Can anyone break the unbreakable starting XI? Wouldn’t seem likely this weekend unless injury rules someone out.

As others have suggested I do think Jota has found the going tough, but he’s obviously a player Nuno places a lot of trust in and is key to how the team is setup so I certainly won’t be calling for his omission.

That said, if Cav or Traore were to enter the team at his expense, it wouldn’t be the greatest surprise. The former has scored one and hit the bar in two cameo appearances and already looks up to speed.

Whoever starts, it would be nice to see us having a good go at a questionable Watford defence, weakened further by the suspension of Christian Kabasele.

Predictions

Well done to vicsmith who continues to lead the way in the Prediction League table after Gameweek 8 with Paddy Day, LukeW and Teddy Eley all within striking distance. View the full table here.

As always, you can join in by leaving your prediction in the comment thread below, which is where you’ll also find my best guess.

Up The Wolves!

If Troy Deeney’s equaliser proves the difference between success and failure in the hunt for a top six finish, Kenny Jackett will be tremendously disappointed.

Having twice maneuvered themselves into a winning position against a good Watford outfit, Wolves were twice caught out by routine balls over the top.

Matej Vydra’s smart finish was more palatable given that it capped a swift counter attack and the forward’s pace took him away from the challenges.

But the long old hoof that dissected Batth and Stearman and allowed Deeney to tie things up again in a feisty second half was simply poor defending.

On the balance of play, a draw was a fair reflection of proceedings, with Wolves in the ascendancy for much of the first half and the visitors enjoying the better of the second.

Benik Afobe personified the performance of his team, starting off strongly but then fading after the break when starved of supply.

The former Arsenal man must be frustrated that two excellent goals in two games have only yielded a single point.

Unerring would be an apt description of Afobe’s seventh goal for the club in just 11 appearances. Will he still be around next season if Wolves can only offer second tier football?

Kevin McDonald is another who can feel pretty satisfied with his efforts of late. If Afobe’s two finishes yesterday and in midweek were good, the passes that teed them up were sublime.

There can be no denying the Scot plays his best football when teamed with the steady and reassuring presence of Jack Price.

Speaking of the bearded one, I’m sure when he dreamed about his first senior goal he didn’t envisage a shot deflecting in off his rear end.

But I think he deserved that good fortune for another mature performance. Simple passes, key interceptions and positional awareness aren’t glamorous but they’re important.

He also cut down Fernando Forestieri in the dying seconds as the forward charged towards goal looking to win the game moments after conning the referee into dismissing Bakary Sako.

The Italian decided to act like he’d been shot in the face after being pushed in the chest. One would hope that has a chance of being overturned.

Losing Sako for 30% of the remaining games would be a major blow despite a low key performance yesterday.

Anything and everything seemed to go through van La Parra, who continues to excite and frustrate in equal measure. But there’s no doubting his ability.

Like the mercurial winger, Wolves need to take all the positive attributes they possess and hone them into consistency.

With difficult fixtures and intense competition for places, even that might not quite be enough.

Highlights

1,000 not out

If you’ll forgive the self-indulgence this is actually the 1,000th blog in the history of the site, which is something Ben and I celebrated with a few post-match pints yesterday. With over 57,000 comments in that time, it’s clear there’s much more happening than just our posts, so this is another opportunity to say a massive thanks to everyone. Here’s to 1,000 more.

I don’t like to blame defeats on decisions but it’s not unfair to suggest we didn’t get the rub of the green in midweek.

Stearman’s tackle that resulted in Bournemouth’s second half penalty was outside the box.

That decision came at the worst possible moment after Wolves had fought their way back into the match and appeared to be in the ascendency.

In a league where the margins between victory and defeat are wafer thin already, sheer misfortune can be more damaging than anything to do with performance levels.

This game now takes on epic proportions for the remainder of Wolves’ season. They need a win, but they daren’t lose.

Watford

With so much managerial upheaval and the generally strange setup at Watford these days, it goes to show there’s no set template for success. It’s just whatever works.

The Hornets are flying. 8 wins in their last 10 matches have propelled them to within a point of the Championship’s summit.

It’s been goals galore all season at Vicarage Road. They’ve scored 70 in 35 matches and when you’re averaging 2 goals a game, it’s tough for the opposition to cope.

They’ve got three good strikers all sky high on confidence in Troy Deeney, Matej Vydra and Odion Ighalo. Keeping them out will in itself be a tough ask.

That said, Wolves managed a cleansheet in the reverse fixture on Boxing Day and deservedly brought home the three points.

Watford

You certainly can’t accuse Kenny Jackett of not going for it against Bournemouth. He picked a pacy, attacking side and went all out to try and get the win.

The major plus was another goal for Benik Afobe, showing he can score in the big fixtures, which might come in handy as Wolves enter the home stretch.

Tomorrow promises to be a fascinating contest as Watford certainly aren’t the type of side to park up inside their own half. I think they’ll be quite open, so it’s just a case of how the manager chooses to combat that.

In the last home match against Fulham he sacrificed a winger and played Jack Price tucked in on the right. It wouldn’t surprise me if he repeated the trick again.

The gaffer

High5it

To incentivise Wolves fans to get involved, if they use the app during a Wolves game and ‘High 5’, they’ll be entered into a competition to win the chance to play at Molineux when the season has finished.

I’ve got the app and will be giving it a whirl tomorrow and I encourage you to do so too. Technology is gradually influencing events on the pitch and I think this is a neat idea for fans to use it in the stands. Find out more on their website here or search your app store for ‘High5it’.

Predictions

I said 4 points would be a good return from the two matches against Bournemouth and Watford, but realistically 3 points is probably the minimum requirement now.

A draw tomorrow wouldn’t be a disaster but at some point we have to beat a couple of the teams above us to claw back the ground and at the same time drive a dagger into the heart of their progress.

I think it will be an open, free flowing game tomorrow and goals seem inevitable. We’ve generally fared pretty well in the more open games, but we may have met our match.

Sitting on the fence with a 2-2.

Up The Wolves!

It’s fitting that on a cold and wet Boxing Day evening Wolves had the appearance of contenders.

Fast out of their corner and first to the punch, they dominated the early exchanges without landing a meaningful blow.

Hause, van La Parra and Edwards were all denied by Gomes before the returning Nouha Dicko hooked wide when presented with a clear opening.

But the punchy forward’s presence was enough to help put Watford on the back foot throughout, holding the ball up one minute before running in behind the next.

His goal, following a wonderful burst of speed by the impressive van La Parra, was just reward for a Man of the Match performance.

Jack Price earned his first start of the season and his steady reassuring touch alongside McDonald helped prevent Watford gaining a meaningful foothold in midfield.

As Kenny Jackett has suggested in the past, the bearded one has a strong positional awareness, so even if his passing range is more limited than the likes of a Lee Evans, he offers much needed stability.

Speaking of stability, that’s now two cleansheets in the last three matches, which has given Wolves the platform to claw their way back towards the top six.

OK, there’s been some luck along the way, not least the last gasp curler that cannoned off the bar as Watford finally came to life in the final knockings, but Wolves have also shown a stronger appetite to defend.

And in Kortney Hause and Dominic Iorfa, some much needed pace and physicality has been added to the back four. Both were highly impressive last night.

The team performance was of greater encouragement though. High intensity from the start, controlled passing football and no shortage of pace and fluidity.

If they can continue to match those heavyweight standards with any degree of consistency, they should weigh in respectably over the second half of the campaign.

The gaffer

Merry Christmas everyone.

I’m not sure whether one of you asked Santa for a televised trip to Vicarage Road, or the gods (Sky) have just been kind to us, but it’s happening.

I was looking back at previous Boxing Day clashes from the blog era, which include:

• A comfortable (albeit forgettable) win over Crewe last season.
• A miserable home defeat to Peterborough in the year we went down.
• A battling point at the Emirates (the day after Boxing Day that one).
• A miserable home defeat to Wigan.
• A narrow (slightly unjust) defeat at Anfield.

No real notable highs but a few sickening lows. Hopefully Kenny Jackett can be the manager to bring us all more festive cheer.

Watford

The Hornets had a November to rival Wolves in the misery stakes. Four straight defeats saw them tumble down the Championship ladder, but three consecutive wins have since set them straight.

They come into this fixture seven points ahead of their opponents and occupying the final play-off position.

Slavisa Jokanovic is their fourth manager already this season, but looks to have cemented his tenure, for the short term at least.

There are a couple of familiar faces in their lineup including Sebastian Bassong and Adlene Guedioura. Troy Deeney is their 9 goal top scorer.

Wolves

Suffice to say I wasn’t impressed against Brighton. Neither the performance or the result were up to scratch and the style (or lack of) was a major concern.

I know Kenny Jackett had to make changes with the defeats piling up, but I don’t think we have the players to be as direct as we were last weekend.

The above is the team I’d pick, possibly even with Ricketts coming in also to one of the full back positions. If we don’t keep the ball better tomorrow, I think we’ll be punished by a decent side.

If we can get an hour of Nouha Dicko, our prospects will significantly improve.

The gaffer

Predictions

I was looking at Watford’s lineup from their win at Reading and they’ve got lots of useful players with good experience of this league and the Premier.

Their forwards (Vydra and Deeney) are probably as good as any pairing we’ll come up against this season, so the fear is we might just get blown away.

With 23 goals already at Vicarage Road this season, only Derby (25) have scored more at home. And with Wolves having conceded 20 away, the figures don’t bode well.

It would be a massive blow to see the gap between ourselves and the play-off places widen, but that might well be the case.

2-1 defeat for me. Prove me wrong lads.

Up The Wolves.

Jim Bowen entered my thoughts at 7.58pm last night.

‘Come and have a look at what you could have won.’

He puts a hand to my shoulder and I’m forced to contemplate what might have been. To see a future I would no longer enjoy.

To witness the team Wolves were supposed to be. Organised, inventive and superior.

In a word, Watford.

That should have been us, I mumble through gritted teeth.

But instead I purr enviously over the opposition along with 18,000 other dejected Bullseye losers, all turning grimly towards their own unwanted prize board.

Stephen Hunt, full of gusto and good intentions but devoid of quality.

Karl Henry, proving more hindrance than help to the ever-changing back four.

Kevin Doyle, a shadow.

All the while, Watford dispel the notion you can’t pass your way out with foreign talent.

I wonder if Steve Morgan lost any sleep over that? He should.

Solbakken imports are our only chance.

Sigurdarson squanders, but shows confidence and willing.

Then there’s Bully’s star prize.

While the rest of the team miss the board, Bakary Sako hit double top again. And for all Watford’s superiority, he was the headline act.

The footwork, the pace, the swagger – it belies our lowly position and the dross that surrounds him.

Drink it in, savour it, because he’ll be packing his bags in May.

We can only hope that before then, he stops us checking out.