Relegation battling Wolves take on Chelsea in a Premier League clash at Molineux.
Victory could see Wolves climb to 12th with Leeds and Crystal Palace not in action until Sunday, whilst Chelsea could go tenth with a win if Fulham fail to clinch victory elsewhere.
Team News
Ruben Neves is suspended for Wolves’ next two games after he picked up his 10th yellow card of the season in their 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.
Boubacar Traore (groin) and Hwang Hee-Chan (muscle) are doubts but Jonny (suspension), Chiquinho and Sasa Kalajdzic (both knee) remain absent.
Chelsea could welcome Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang back into contention after a month out with a back injury.
Cesar Azpilicueta (concussion), Thiago Silva and Armando Broja (both knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Wolves face Chelsea at Molineux at 3pm BST on Saturday 8 April, albeit untelevised in UK.
Stat Attack
- Wolves are unbeaten in four of their last five meetings against Chelsea (W1, D3, L1).
- Chelsea are unbeaten in three of their last five league visits to Wolves (W2, D1, L2).
- Two of Wolves’ last four meetings against Chelsea have resulted in goalless draws.
- Each of Wolves’ seven goals at home in 2023 have been scored by seven different goalscorers.
- Chelsea have won just one of their last nine away matches in the Premier League (W1, D4, L4).
Prediction
Currently stuck in a relegation fight and lacking consistency, Wolves will be happy with how they clinically snatched a draw at Forest after a lacklustre first half but they must start cutting out errors if they want to start getting wins.
Chelsea meanwhile continue to lack a solid final touch to their end product because despite Graham Potter’s departure, they were still wasteful in Tuesday’s goalless draw against Liverpool amidst a more energetic attacking display.
Frank Lampard’s temporary return therefore will be welcomed by players but his first priority has to be on changing their end product luck, because they do everything else well except converting their chances into goals.
Lampard though has a much bigger squad available so it is hard to predict what sort of style he will opt for tactically, although his experience as an ex Chelsea player and manager should enable his players to pick up managerial bounce but I just don’t see a classic at Molineux.
Prediction: Wolves 1-1 Chelsea
Result: Wolves 1-0 Chelsea
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