Wolverhampton Wanderers welcome Newcastle United to Molineux in this week’s dose of Premier League’s Monday Night Football.
Victory for Wolves will see them restore their four point lead over Watford in the race for seventh, whilst Newcastle can move three points clear of the drop with a win.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesWolves have no injury concerns as Ruben Vinagre and Diogo Jota return to squad after sitting out their FA Cup replay win over Shrewsbury Town in midweek through a respective virus and knock.
Newcastle could hand new record signing, Miguel Almiron his first start if he can prove his fitness.
Paul Dummett and Ki Sung-Yeung could return from thigh injuries whilst Karl Darlow (elbow) and Mohamed Diame (hip) are also in contention to return to the matchday squad.
Jonjo Shelvey (thigh) and Rob Elliot (back) are still ruled out but could return in a fortnight’s time against Huddersfield Town.
Form
Wolves are unbeaten in their last five across all competitions but have kept just one clean sheet in that period.
At home, Wolves have won their last four matches netting at least three goals in three of those matches.
Newcastle meanwhile have won just two of their last five with both victories coming at home.
On their travels, the Magpies have taken four points from their last five league games but only scored twice in that run.
Stat Attack
- Wolves are unbeaten in three of last five meetings with Newcastle (W2, D1, L2).
- At Molineux, Wolves are winless in last four against the Magpies despite scoring in three of those fixtures (D2, L2).
- Ayoze Perez has netted one goal in last three appearances for Newcastle against Wolves.
- Newcastle have made the second lowest number of shots on target this season with 80 attempts. Only Cardiff have had fewer attempts on target.
- Both sides have made 690 interceptions between them, with Wolves managing 346 interceptions to Newcastle’s 344.
Prediction
Wolves are definitely back on form after a shaky festive period unlike Newcastle but this should be a tighter home game than recent.
I can see the Magpies setting themselves up on counter given the difficulty of winning at Molineux but am going for a home win.
Prediction: Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Newcastle United
Jake predicts: Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Newcastle United
Result: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Newcastle United