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CLAIM NOWStruggling Wolves Face Winless Southampton
Wolverhampton Wanderers to Win (4-2)
Tournament: English Premier League 2024-25 | Venue: Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton
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Wolves have never started a Premier League season so poorly having failed to win their opening 10 matches of any campaign for just the third time in their history (1983-84 and in the second tier in 1926-27). During that run they have conceded 27 goals, more than anyone else in the league and lost four of their five matches at Molineux.
As a result, O’Neil finds himself under massive pressure. He finds himself included in a small minority, which does include his counterpart Russel Martins. Both managers seem to be one defeat away from a sacking. The Molineux, on Saturday, is set up for an anxious spectacle. Any manager would be willing to overtake O'Neil, looking at his talented crop of players.
There is only one man who could’ve made it happen. If you guessed Adam Armstrong then you guessed correctly. His late 85th minute winner gave the Saints new found hope to claim their first victory after recently being promoted. Southampton looked like a proper team with every player working as a unit. Aaron Ramsdale was prolific in goal as he made two important saves to keep the game alive.
It was after a long while that St.Mary’s had the chance to breathe a sigh of relief. Southampton have now beaten Everton in 14 Premier League home games - no side have they beaten more often on home soil in the competition.
Head-to-Head Record : Both teams have played each other 46 times. Wolves have won 19, Southampton have won 16, while 11 games ended in a draw.
Current Standings : Wolves are one of the only 2 teams without a registered victory in the Premier League. They sit right at the bottom with 3 points. While Southampton aren’t too far in 19th position having picked up 4 points from 10 games.
Despite Wolves having not won a single Premier League game this season, they have won their last five meetings with Southampton, their longest winning run against any opponent in the competition. In the 1983-84 season Wolves went 14 games without winning. They eventually ended up finishing at the bottom of the top-flight that season.
It almost seems like for Wolves to win, they need to score 3 or 4 goals, considering they let in an average of 2.7 goals per game. The English manager’s overall record stands at 13 wins with 92 goals conceded in 48 matches. That amounts to 1.9 goals per game on average during his tenure. The Premier League still has 7 more months of football left to play. Despite that, pundits Gary Lineker and Micah Richards do not think the team from the midlands will go down, courtesy to their player quality and Premier League experience.
Defensive Woes
The midlanders need to tighten up defensively. A leaky defence is leaking a few too many points. The 27 goals conceded in 10 Premier League games is the sixth time a team has conceded 27+ after 10 Premier League games, Sheffield United being the most recent team with 29. Wolves have also conceded at least twice in 9 of their 10 League games this season, including each of the last seven in a row.
It’s their longest of conceding goals in consecutive games since a run of nine between February and April 2012. Only Brentford (74) have faced more shots on target than Wolves in the Premier League this season (67). Only in 2011-12 (7) have they averaged more shots on target faced per game in a single campaign in the competition than their 6.7 so far this term.
Each of Wolves’ last four Premier League goals have been scored in the second half of games, with eight of their first 10 this season coming in the first half. Meanwhile, six of Southampton’s last seven goals conceded in the competition have come after half-time.
Injury list - Enso Gonzalez, Boubacar Traore, Sasa Kalajdzic, Yerson Mosquera and Hwan Hee-chan are all ruled out.
Wolves Probable Starting Lineup - Sa (GK) Bueno, Gomes, Dawson (DEF) Semedo, Doyle, Gomes, Ait-Nouri, Sarabia, Cunha (MID) Strand Larsen (FWD).
The Saints, having kept a clean sheet in their first ever Premier League meeting with Wolves in September 2003 (2-0), have now conceded in each of their last 11 against them in the competition.
Southampton have won just 2 of the last 27 Premier League meetings between sides starting the day in the bottom two places in the league table (D8,L17), though one of those was the most recent such match between Sheffield United (20th) and Burnley (19th) in April (4-1 to Burnley). Luckily, their win last time out against Everton ended a run of 22 Premier League games without a win, and a run of 21 without a clean sheet in the competition.
They last won consecutive top-flight games in February 2022, the first of which came against Everton. If they really are to get something out of this game, Russel Martin will want his men to avail of Wolves’ defensive frailties. Unfortunately, the Saints have scored just seven goals in the Premier League this season, fewer than any other side. They have scored more goals in their EFL Cup matches (9) than in the 10 league games.
Injury list - Gavin Bazunu, Ross Stewart, Will Smallbone and Ryan Fraser miss a trip to the midlands.
Southampton Probable Starting Lineup - Ramsdale (GK), Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens, Manning (DEF) Armstrong, Downes, Lallana, Fernandes, (MID), Archer,(FWD)
The wait for when the top two teams battle, is a few weeks away. But the day for when the bottom two do, is almost here. This game could swing either way. One team has the worst defensive record, while the other has the worst scoring record. It only means one thing.
The game is set to offer excitement. Both teams will throw all that they’ve got. It’s going to be a tough day for the striker that doesn’t receive enough support in the 5-4-1 formation that both teams employ. Given that Wolves haven’t lost to the Saints, that mindset, I believe, will dictate the outcome of the game.
Wolverhampton Wanderers to Win (4-2)
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