Boy, that was a tough one to take on Thursday.
I don’t think I’ve felt that bad after a defeat since that grim Black Country Derby over a year ago.
But we had our say in the game and although I don’t begrudge Arsenal the victory on the balance of play, we could easily have won. It wasn’t a bad performance.
There have been plenty of games where our defence have made the difference in a tight contest and this was just a night where it was Arsenal’s inventiveness around the penalty area that gave them the edge.
What we don’t want is this painful setback to derail us completely so bouncing back in another tough fixture is important if we’re to maintain a push for the top six.
West Ham
The Hammers have only won once in their last five Premier League matches, but are still in the race for the top four, underlining just how well the season had been going for David Moyes’ side.
But the games have been piling up across multiple competitions and it’s no big surprise results have taken a hit with a fairly thin squad of players.
They could have done without Kurt Zouma booting his cat and the national outcry that’s almost certainly taken the team’s focus away from football. For what it’s worth, I think he should have been suspended instead of just fined. They didn’t handle the situation very well.
An understrength Newcastle took a point from the Olympic Stadium last weekend and were perhaps unlucky not to win after a disappointing West Ham showing.
In Jarrod Bowen they have the league’s form player and although the goals have dried up for Michael Antonio lately, he remains a considerable threat.
Wolves
The injury to Nelson Semedo could be more costly than the defeat with the wingback being a standout player this season.
Jonny was neat and tidy after coming on at The Emirates but he’s a very different player to Semedo and will alter the dynamic of the team.
Further forward I see it as a positive that both Hwang and Neto are not only playing again but having an impact. With Podence also looking sharp, we have good options again across that front line.
Bruno hasn’t been shy about rotating Dendoncker in and out of the side and I foresee him getting a start here after dropping out at Arsenal.
Last time out
It was arguably the performance of the season that saw us overcome West Ham at Molineux. I was impressed how we played our way into the game, gradually began to dominate the ball and scored an excellent winning goal.
We got battered 4-0 in this fixture last season in what was the first real warning about the difficulties that lay ahead in the campaign that followed with West Ham heading in the opposite direction.
The odds
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Predictions
Well done to Wokywolf who was the only one – apart for me – to predict a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal.
Brompton Wolf joins Cannock Wolf at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 25.
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.
Still pig sick from thursday, but all this talk of europe is wrong, midtable at the moment, kneed 2 quality players for next step up, shall be hopeful for the game, hard one to call, go 3 in middle , give silva a go, and the kid in midfield, off to the pub, wolves aie we , love u bloggers
I said at the start of this month if we got 5 points from our Feb fixtures we’d still have a good chance of getting into the top six and we’ve already put 6 on the board, so anything here would be a nice bonus.
That being said, we don’t really want to lose and allow West Ham to get five points clear, even though we still have a winnable game in hand. The defeat to Arsenal has got to have taken a lot out of the team and with the hosts coming in fresh, that does tip the scales in their favour.
But I’ll back us to take a point on the basis we’ve now got a few players that can come into the side and freshen things up if required. We need to get straight back into conceding 0s and 1s as I think the goals will start coming at the opposite end with Hwang and Neto back amongst it.
Podence Hwang Neto to start.
No room for sentiment if you want to be successful so Raul drops to the bench.
The 30000 fans and 20000 football tourists in the stadium given to them are looking to get on Moyes and the teams back , lets give them more ammunition.
A very civilized kick off time at 8 in the morning.
One of Winston Churchill’s famous quotes applies to Wolverhampton Wanderers this season.
We are a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.
We never know which team will show up, and who will perform to their limits.
This, I feel, is relevant this weekend.
Are we going to bounce back, play out of our skins, and give the Hammers a walloping, or are we going to be lambs to the slaughter?
We should realistically be looking for 18 points from our next six games, before we entertain Citeh, for another revenge match.
Are we going to have a breather tomorrow, or are we rolling up our sleeves and going for it?
The latter I hope.
There is no reason to fear anyone, especially Wham, and I see an easy three points to start our surge into the top four.
I had the misfortune to see the second half of Saints v Norwich yesterday.
Talk about two poor and boring sides!
And Swansea appear to have the easiest fixture of the weekend!
FOwb
Hi clive ure posts always cheer me up god bless
Thank you, kind sir, or madam, I ain’t sure!
But Swansea aren’t playing this weekend,
Those idle Texans consider Monday to be part of the weekend. That’s why they don’t understand the Boomtown Rats song.
When one is semi retired, all the days roll into one big weekend!!
Yes, I do my utmost to be idle, if that’s not oxymoronic, and my fave Boomtown Rats song is Rat Trap, where puss and grime ooze from its scab crusted sores!!
Bostin lyrics!
Closely followed by “someone looking atcha”
At least I think thats the title, but as I’m too idle, Eric, to look it up………..!!
And Swansea won’t need to play THIS WEEKEND, coz they aint got no opposition, on Monday, which some American cop doesn’t like.
FOwb
Never understood the problem with lazy people,
We didn’t do anything?
I’m as gutted as much as anyone after Thursday’s bitter defeat. I hope Bruno has taken full advantage of the video analysis room he set, up ‘cos there’s lots to look at. Both the Leicester and Arsenal matches followed the same pattern, but little wonder that Arsenal won as they’re a better team than Leicester. If we can correct the mistakes of sitting back and surrendering possession, we can win tomorrow.
This is our fourth season in the PL and there is obviously a fifth season guaranteed, with the possibility of Europe again. So, plenty to celebrate. But I want more. Bruno’s deep analytical methods will achieve more than Nuno’s more hands-off approach. I expect to see the benefits of Bruno’s work tomorrow.
We’ve got this. If we can convert our chances. Which we haven’t been very good at…
That’s the story of our season so far
.
Here we go again have to remain positive….
Tired legs may come into it after Thursday’s gruelling game so going for a share of the spoils.
We must have grooved an extra lane in the M1 with all this London traffic, and this trip feels crucial. 3 points would be wonderful, a point worthy, nil points and ta ta lofty ambitions, hello Burnley.
Hope Bruno has had time to massage ego’s back into match fitness, mine is still a bit fragile, as we are going to have to put on a performance of some class to get anything out of this.
That said, my cat, Truffles, threw up on a picture of Jarrod Bowen thi morning and has been using Jacob Zouma reports as Kitty litter for a couple of weeks. He’s been doing his bit. I fully expect a cat related intervention to decide this fixture. But I can’t see us scoring more than three.
1 lv & COYW
Tough choice for starting 11 which is good as competition breeds better performances
Based on the last two performances where we’ve had a fully fit squad, I think that’s a bit of an old wives’ tale Corby. Practice doesn’t always match the theory.
A measured and sensible summary as always Thomas, there hasn’t been enough of that over the last couple of days. As for this one, I’m confident we’ll get a result if our defence are on form and our tricky attack causes problems.
This should be a routine Sunday afternoon kick off. But it won’t be because an Alien space ship piloted by the ‘For mash get smash martians’ will just happen to be flying over London as the match is in progress. Obviously, they see David Moyes on the touchline and take sympathy on him because they think he needs a nice meal of sausage and mash. Thus they abduct him by beaming him aboard the space ship and treat him to a slap up meal. The lack of direction from the dug out is clear during the Alien abduction and throws Wham in to complete disarray during which time WWFC score 2 goals through Raul and Hwang. The kindly Aliens then return Moyes to the dug out on 75 minutes. But they then decide Mark Bowen should also have sausage and mash and he is duly beamed up as well. Moyes is unable to get a grip with the weird goings on and believes he has had his pre match cup of tea spiked with a mind bending drug. Wham finish the game in bewildered fashion and it ends Wham 0 WWFC 2. Mark Bowen is duly beamed back down to Earth shortly after. After the match Mark Bowen said ” Well it was all a bit weird. But the sausage and mash was great. Could have done with a bit of grated cheese on it though”. Bruno said ” It’s not as uncommon as you think. When i was 17 I was on a bike ride in Portugal and some aliens stopped me and gave me a large cheeseburger and chips. It happens all the time”. WHAM 0 WWFC 2.
That seals the deal I’m going to smashed tomorrow too. I will defo take the gravy option.
You didn’t mention the wallpaper, cheeseter
The radiotherapy hit hard yesterday after Thursday night….strange how the wiring gets fused when emotions are triggered
Huge game this….winning will be massive for confidence and the rest of the season no doubt ,and we’re good enough individually to do just that….I hear what others have said re Raul and agree but the 2 he’ll but against tomorrow are slow…..nullify Bowen…. its 3 points …. simples
Dust our selves off, and go again. Bounce back time for the mighty Wolves.
Haven’t the foggiest what permutation will be presented by 4pm tomorrow.
We certainly have to tidy up our passes out of defence; at times on Thursday it reminded me of rabbits in a headlight. We were made to look bad, so a little bit of composure would not be amiss.
That said, we usually do OK in the smoke so I’ll go for all 3 points and normal service being resumed.
DRAW 1-1
We need our status returned and with a London club who are off form …3 points IMO with Netto doing the business….Jimenez due a killer game ..Neves a free kick to die for..
COW
.
Hopefully we can bounce back. As much as arsenal were good we should have at least seen it out for a point.
But West Ham are different challenge. Similar to us in the fact there squad has some obvious deficiencies and is reliant on some great quality in key areas which is ever more likely to leave should they fail to get European football. I’m hopeful we can bounce back but it will be tight.
Yes, we’ll probably make some changes to the starting lineup after the exertions of Thursday. What a pulsating game. Our passes out of defense were more like hopeful clearances and too often went to an Arsenal player. We certainly didn’t have much luck, and the ref seemed to miss a lot.
Hopefully more composure tomorrow, and a tidy three points.
We should have shored up a bit earlier at Arsenal . Never mind. Let’s get 3 points tomorrow a d go again
West ham are not arsenal they dont have the quality, guile or luck of that lot of spiteful twats.
So can we beat them on their own turf ???
I wasnt gutted Thursday just disappointed about the way we played after going a goal up.
Panicked distribution out of defence that led to a constant bombardment of our goal that inevitably went the way it looked like it would.
This will be a completely different game against a side like us who can do it on their day but just as easily balls it up.
Its Bruno time he has to get his game plan right and not be slow in changing it early if its not working.
Team selection is pretty much nailed on but we now have some proper quality on the bench which is very encouraging.
Keep it tight nick a goal and iIthink the ammers may just fall apart.
We can win this.
Good post, WHAM may have hit a low point in recent performances but have clearly earned their league position. Subs will play a big part or we may get overwhelmed again late on. Much love will be shown for Max from all sides. Happy with a point.
Thought we could have nicked it at the Emirates. We missed out on three very good chances and Arsenal were fortunate not to have a man sent off. Having said that we gave the ball away very cheaply in the second half.
Think we can nick it against WHU.
I just gotta keep positive… a win for WWFC.
I’d be a draw as the team
Have to be knackered
However back to our winning formula
Don’t care if it’s in last minute
Well this is a key moment for us now.
Win and Top 5 is still on ( I think Arsenal will finish 4th); lose and it begins to look like 7th at best.
I’m expecting us to bounce back with a win.
It was a sickener on Thursday, but hey, that’s football, a preparation for life. I’m going for a 2-1 win for Wolves and hope I can make it back in time to see the game on telly from the South Coast. Semedo’s a big loss on present form to my mind. This is however countered by our returning players giving us more ability to change things. Hoping for a good one…
We’ll miss Semedo and it’s an important game for us and the Hammers, plus they’ve had the extra break, but I can’t bet against the lads.
COMBs
First off I don’t believe employers of any kind should be responsible for meeting out punishments to employees. This is a matter for our legal system
However if our supporters can get under his skin it’s no less than he deserves.
We win more than we lose these days and the Hammers run appears to have come to an end.
Therefore we win.
My son in law and my granddaughter will be at the game Sunday and ill be watching the express and star printouts…..gutted
I’ve got my youngest granddaughter to kiss the wolves badge so happy days
She’s a rebel so won’t be a hammer thankfully.
West ham not good at the moment so probably our best opportunity to take 3 points
UTW
I find the E&S text comments very poor; need to supplement with the BBC texts, and even better, the Wolves FC official website live commentary on their tv page.
But funny to see the E&S comments a minute or so in advance of the Amazon TV last Thursday.
I took my West Ham Sin L when we beat them 4-2 at home, with Paul Ince scoring the third, ‘winning’, goal. Delightful.
Tight game, but hopefully we can grind out a win
Despite not being at our best at Emirates, with many misdirected passes, we still managed to stay in front for the large part of the game – only to be beaten by the last kick of the game. Hopefully we can give a better account of ourselves this time round, and as Spikeyboy rightly said – Wham ain’t no Arsenal. I was going for a draw here too, but I have now been convinced we can beat this lot.
BTW, I too think that Raul might need a bit of a rest. Bring him on if required around the hour mark.
We need to bounce back if top six is to remain a possibility but scoring goals continues to be our downfall. Lets hope we can get an early goal and hang on for the win this time.
Wolves 1 – 0 West Ham
Need to be more clinical in front of goal.
I’d be ok with a draw, but its one we can win.
Definitely need to tighten up our passing and possession game. Just hope that we don’t tire late on in the game, post our efforts the other evening and become sloppy.
Nothing to fear, so the boys to step up and take a narrow win.
Hoping for a reversal
KA/TNs
Antonio and Bowen have hurt us in the past, so our defence (without Semedo) will need to be sharp for 96 minutes.
Scoring goals would also help.
Think we might go 5 in mid, which if we were going to defend a 1-0 against Arsenal should have altered to
They are a strong tackling side and will be fresher
Five stops on the Jubilee Line.
From South of the river to north
From Millwall land to that place my council tax subsidised.
My friend has given me his WEt Sham ST (he doesn’t support them, he just wanted to watch PL football and this was the club with STs available. My late BiL was similar; loved football but didn’t support a team). Anywho, I get the ticket bc at our age we can only manage one big match per weekend (he went to Twickenham yesterday).
Hoping for a win (as usual) will settle for a draw (as per Thursday, when it was disappointing (understatement)). Need to be much sharper today.
Semedo, absence could be key.
BTW I’m still not getting the blog in my inbox. I have to go searching, when I remember (advancing years!). Thanks.
Big game this is as I think 7th spot will be between us and West Ham. If Semedo is missing that will be a blow. Presumably Hoever will come in. At the top end I would not be against Neto getting a start as we need to get him up to speed ASAP.
After Thursday I think we have blown any hope of top four. 6th or 7th more realisitic.
Hope for a win but in current frame of mind would settle for a draw
Few drinks at the club , roast dinner and a rare respectable ko time of 9 pm
What can possibly go wrong?
West ham win this , for all the above mentioned reasons , I’m not feeling confident at all .
So, it will have to be a man of the match performance from hoever, a penalty for jimmy to add to his tally, a very dodgy var decision in our favour and west ham down to 10 men,that should really be enough!
Still pissed off though .
Come on you wolves
Disappointed re arsenal. Hoping for better this afternoon.
I was at the encounter at Molineux and agree with Thomas that it was probably our best performance of the season. We controlled virtually the whole game at a time when they were very much on a roll.
They have been slipping a little just lately but remain a dangerous prospect and it will take a top quality performance to glean any points from this.
Watch again the penalty awarded to Man City after the ‘handball’ by Joao Moutinho.
Now watch the penalty denied to Everton against Man City after an ‘incident’ in the box last night.
Now tell me the whole system isn’t sickeningly corrupt.
Exactly what I said too. Even Shearer said it was a penalty all day long.
Have to completely agree wolfy .
Just how much more do we have to see before something is done about this outrages bias that is being shown towards the top clubs.
HOW in the world of pigs pudding can that NOT be hand ball he clearly without any possible doubt controlled the ball with his arm and it wasn’t accidental .
Then harp back to moutinhos “hand ball” and you have to scream CORRUPTION !
No other word can it be as they have used up all their lame excuses over and over again and please don’t tell the ball hit his sleeve or we will have the seamstress out putting six inches on everyone’s shirt arms.
You know what ..sometimes I wish the greedy six had buggered off and formed their own league so they could wallow in their own shit !
Difficult to predict … WW more in form but WH obviously having a great season although can be very average. If we play as defensively as we did at Arsenal I don’t feel optimistic. Need to press and attack. Sitting back invites disaster.
I agree with you about the need for us to play on the front foot in this game Avebury, but our midfield still appears to lack an essential ball-winning capability to me. I hope that Dendoncker can prove me wrong.
With that in mind, I’m afraid we might concede more than the 1 goal.
Really not sure how this one will go. I’m still exhausted after arsenal let alone the players. I’ll back us to bounce back and nick it with a 1 nil. Jimenez to score
I can’t think of a single occasion this season where we have had two consecutive poor performances so I’m backing us to bounce back today. It’s going to be a tight game but we will sneak it with a Neves wonder goal !!!
Firstly … we’ll done to Thomas for the correct score line against Arsenal…. If no one else’s dings your praises.. sing them yourself… or so said my granny…!
Today’s coming too soon on the back of a backs to the wall effort last Thursday.
We must be absolutely tattered and if we came back to Molineux after that game .., got in at say 1:30am … bit of recovery on Friday then back down the smoke with another 2 1/2 hour journey yesterday… it won’t surprise me one bit if we’re knackered.
So against my principles it’s West Ham 2 …worn out Wolves 0.
How come our long distance away games now are not Saturday…. Brighton , Newcastle, Arsenal
They stayed in a hotel down there for a few nights.
And, if we finish in one of the top six
places this season, does that mean we can be part of the breakaway super dooper league, and wallow in our own shit, or are those positions reserved for the same super dooper clubs, as always?
After the sad last 10 mins against the Arse when I thought we would at least get a point the West Ham fixture becomes almost a must win if we are to be realistically top 6.
What is more this is one fixture where I feel we can come away with 3 points – so here we go!
Take a draw….
Plenty of easier games left.
The Abramovich decision to transfer control of Chelsea to Trustees does not affect his ownership of the club. Decisions such as transfers will allegedly be out of his hands (yeah right!). The club owes him £1.5bil and cannot pay if asked. He can still sell up, but who would be a buyer right now with the world in such turmoil? A week or so there were rumours that our Ukrainian/British player Kilman was wanted by Chelsea. Hopefully that’s a dead duck now. Abramovich, like Trump, is just a Putin puppet. The puppets will not dare criticise their master. The same allegation can directed against Newcastle and their ultimate master the murderous Saudi Arabian Crown Prince.
Not convinced by the line up so hope they prove me wrong.
Interesting line-up, Bruno understandably not risking Neto and Jonny to start and Moutinho probably not fully fit. On the plus side- a great bench. Fabio and Hwang should link well. A win today would be the performance of the season to-date.
That has to be the best subs bench ever for a wolves team.
Freshening things up, interesting
Utw
So we’re playing a team, who were gifted a stadium due to some shady dealings behind the scenes, part funded by scantily glad women in certain publications, thst I have no knowledge of. At Norwich, they taunt Delia Smith. I’ve yet hear them ask to see Karen Brady topless. And let’s prove David ‘that’s what I do, win’ Moyes wrong.
Wow! Just seen starting line-up. Complete surprise. Are there injuries I did not know about or has Bruno after the Arsenal result decided on a complete shame up? We’ll see but I think WH will be encouraged.
Shake up!
Big opportunities for our ‘F Force’ – Fabio and Francisco. It would be fabulous if they came good.
I’ll take the draw.
Leaving this a bit late as I’ve only just got back from visiting the ‘Aged Parent’ in her nursing home.
Haven’t even seen the team sheet but because me mother was on pretty good form, it’s such a lovely Spring day and I’ve been out in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside, past Avebury, Silbury Hill and any amount of ancient barrows, my spirits have been lifted and I’m forecasting a win.
Just seen the team selection. Would it be rude to change my prediction?
No Podence, Moutinho and Silva upfront. Oh dear, there goes a European spot!
What do I Know? Team sheet scares me though, so:
That was utter crap
Easily our worst performance this season
No urgency
No fight
No penetration
One shot on goal
Three games now and playing shite.
Pissed off
Well, that’s 93 and a half minutes of my life I’ll never get back.
I could have been out walking the hills of Wiltshire.
I had my doubts.
I don’t like it when I have doubts.
Come on me babbies, you are better than that.
I’m not sure we’re going to win many until we choose for someone other than Sa to spearhead our attack.
Inside the first minute of the game, we get a throw-in by the West Ham corner flag. 15 seconds later, going through the feet of 3/4 Wolves players, not a West Ham player touching the ball, it’s in the hands of Sa.
Just to prove how adept we are at this tactic, we repeated it at the beginning of the second half.
It is so frustrating.
Does everything have to go through Neves? No one seems to take responsibility for moving the ball forward, content to pass the ball back or sideways.
We used to be so good at transitioning from defence to attack, at speed, but now we bottle it. The team that played the first three games of this season only turns up for the last 10 minutes of any game now, and usually when we’re losing.
I know it’s not the end of the world, we have some very winnable fixtures coming up and we’re still favourites to finish in 7th but I’m pissed off!
7th is no good at all. I’d rather we finished 8th and left ourselves with fewer fixtures next season.
And also bearing in mind that Fosun are unlikely to spend the money needed to strengthen our squad and are more likely to sell some our most desirable assets.
Sadly, with very little chance of getting a European spot, I can see Neto and Neves leaving us at the end of the season. Like it or not, we are a mid table team, at the moment.
Whatever the reason to make so many changes is beyond my comprehension, but the only reason we lost this game today is down to the Coach.. Who did he think we were playing bloody Weymouth, sorry weymouth. West Ham are a good side but to gift them that game is beyond me.Flabbergasted to say the least. Totally pissed off by that performance.