Wolves Vs Chelsea Preview
We need to lift the mood.
It was a relief to get that equaliser at the City Ground and the midweek results were favourable, but I haven’t felt good about a Wolves performance for ages.
In the earlier games of the Lopetegui era, there were positives to extract even when we didn’t win and a vibrancy about the squad that fostered enthusiasm.
The last three performances have stamped much of that out and the stock of many of these players has never been lower. Some will disagree, but I don’t think they’re as bad as they’ve made themselves look.
Even so, I’d rate our current chances of survival no better than 50/50.
Chelsea
If you’d told me Frank Lampard would be sitting in the Chelsea dugout tomorrow, I’d have assumed they’d reached desperation in their search for a goalscorer. But no, he’s back as manager for a second spell in one of the more surprising twists in this strange old season.
I can’t imagine he’ll have a significant impact in such a short period of time, but you’d have thought someone will eventually get a decent tune out of this stacked Chelsea squad.
The jury is out on all of their recent signings, but the familiar names are now returning (James, Chilwell, Kante, Kovacic, Sterling and a few others), which should help them establish consistency.
They’ve only scored six goals more than Wolves (just to underline how bad they’ve been) and profligacy killed them again in midweek with plenty of chances created against Liverpool but none taken.
They’re marooned in midtable so a push for Europe seems fanciful but are still in this season’s Champions League and head to the Bernabeu on Wednesday for the first leg of their quarter-final.
Wolves
I’ve given up trying to guess who Lopetegui will pick and have no idea who I’d pick so I’m not even sure what this XI represents.
Is Cunha a better choice than Costa or Raul? Is Hwang going to have more impact than Traore or Sarabia? Should Podence be in over Neto? Who can really say?
Similarly, in the midfield, Joao Gomes didn’t do a lot wrong against Leeds so could fill in for Ruben. Boubacar Traore is also knocking around too. It could be any combination.
Chelsea are in a similar boat, especially with a new manager with his own opinions, so at least we won’t be the only team spinning the wheel this week.
Predictions
Well done to Woodend wolf, Ben Rasmin, PeteRobbo, Pete Dunbar, Aussiewolf, vicsmith, Ash k and Rich who all predicted the 1-1 scoreline at the City Ground last weekend.
Rich remains four-points clear at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 29.
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!