Chelsea begin life after Frank Lampard as they welcome Wolves to Stamford Bridge in midweek Premier League action.
Victory for Chelsea coupled with defeat for Aston Villa at Burnley could send Thomas Tuchel’s new Blues seventh for at least a few hours, whereas Wolves look to climb above Crystal Palace into 13th with a win.
Team News
N’Golo Kante is Chelsea’s only injury concern as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury, although he is unlikely to be risked in this match.
Wolves have no fresh injury concerns to report after defeating Chorley in the FA Cup as Daniel Podence (calf), Raul Jimenez (head), Fernando Marcal (groin) and Jonny (knee) remain sidelined.
New signing, William Jose meanwhile is ineligible as he continues to wait for international clearance.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea have drawn one of last five meetings against Wolves (W2, D1, L2).
- Wolves have lost five of six Premier League trips to Stamford Bridge (D1, L5), during which they scored just one goal.
- Chelsea have kept clean sheets in four of their last five home league games against Wolves.
- Vitinha and Fabio Silva have made more substitute league appearances than any other Wolves player this season, having both come off the bench on eight occasions.
- Chelsea’s Mason Mount is one of three Premier League players to have taken a joint league-high 69 corners so far this season, alongside Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse.
Prediction
Chelsea put in a strong attacking performance to beat Luton on Sunday in the FA Cup but if switch focus to their last league game in which they were absolutely destroyed by Leicester in not just pace but defensively too, they need to turn out a display akin to their FA Cup effort otherwise this could be messy if Wolves can dominate the flanks and create chances.
The dugout situation following Lampard’s exit also won’t help because Tuchel has had just one training session to implement his ideas, which will provide a tactical issue because players will need time to adapt to his style unless he sticks with Lampard’s approach for this game given the shortness of preparation.
Wolves however will need to improve their clinical play after registering just one shot at Chorley on Friday night which luckily won them the game, although their priority has to be avoiding a relegation scrap in the league so there is definitely work to do for both teams coming into this game.
Ultimately this match though feels second-best given that the focus will be on how Chelsea players adapt to life after Lampard, so I just can’t see the Blues getting that bounce to grab a win this quickly.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-1 Wolves
Result: Chelsea 0-0 Wolves
Leave a Reply