Wolves welcome Watford to Molineux as both teams look to chase three vital points in their respective European and relegation battles.
Victory would see Wolves stay eighth but reignite their top-seven ambitions, whereas a win would lift Watford above Burnley into 18th unless they win by six or more goals which would lift them out of the relegation zone.
Team News
Ki-Jana Hoever is a doubt for Wolves with a hamstring injury suffered in Saturday’s defeat against Crystal Palace.
Nelson Semedo remains absent with a hamstring injury which has forced him to miss Wolves’ last two matches.
Watford could welcome Joshua King back into contention after he missed Sunday’s loss against Arsenal with a tight hamstring.
Nicolas Nkoulou, Ismaila Sarr and Jeremy Ngakia (all hamstring) and William Troost-Ekong (groin) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Wolves have won three of their last five league meetings against Watford (W3, L2).
- Watford have won just one of their last five away trips to Wolves at Molineux (W1, D2, L2).
- This fixture was originally scheduled for Boxing Day, of which Wolves won their only previous Boxing Day clash against Watford by 1-0 result in 2014.
- Wolves are looking to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat in a single season for the first time since enduring a five-match winless run between February-March 2017.
- Watford have scored just once in four away matches under Roy Hodgson, which came in a 1-0 win at Aston Villa last month.
Prediction
Having lost their last three matches to dent their top-seven ambition, Wolves now need a huge performance here to get their season back on track especially after a lacklustre effort against Palace where their attack lacked energy whilst defence and midfield looked very sloppy at times.
Watford meanwhile showed real gritty energy in their pressing plus attacking intensity despite losing to Arsenal, where slow defensive movement to close down gaps proved their undoing despite showing resilience to fight from behind instead of just unravelling.
On that note, I feel like Watford must deliver a similar performance but with tighter defending if they’re to stand any chance because Wolves will definitely be eager to produce a reaction here.
In fact if Watford do turn up with a strong performance and get the first goal, I can see them pushing on for the win.
Prediction: Wolves 0-2 Watford
Result: Wolves 4-0 Watford
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