Wolves begin life back in the Sky Bet Championship with a tough season-opening test against Blackburn Rovers.
Wolves begin this season as one of the promotion favourites after their relegation from the Premier League, whilst Blackburn will look to improve on their 20th-placed finish last season.
Team News
Wolves have no fresh injury concerns to report following their 3-0 Carabao Cup first-round victory over Port Vale.
Sam Johnstone (shoulder) is a doubt but Rafiki Said (MCL) and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (hamstring) are ruled out, whilst Ki-Jana Hoever and Tolu Arokodare are both not expected to feature amidst the club’s push to sell both players in this window.
Blackburn too have no fresh injury concerns to report following their 2-1 Carabao Cup first-round victory at Burton Albion.
Scott Wharton (thigh), Dion De Neve, Moussa Baradji (both hamstring), Augustus Kargbo, Matty Litherland and Mathias Jorgensen (all unspecified) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Wolves face Blackburn at Molineux on Friday 14 August at 8pm BST, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Football in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Wolves are unbeaten in their last eight league meetings against Blackburn (W4, D4).
- Blackburn are winless in their last four trips to Wolves (D3, L1).
- Wolves’ last two home matches against Blackburn have ended in 0-0 draws.
- Wolves are winless in their last eight league matches (D4, L4).
- Blackburn have lost one of their last five league matches away from home (W3, D1, L1).
Prediction
Having taken a bold gamble in sacking Rob Edwards and appointing Cesar Peixoto as his replacement ahead of pre-season, Wolves certainly enjoyed a clinical start against Port Vale but this now going to be a different test because they won’t have it easy so the right mentality switch will be key.
Blackburn meanwhile are back under the reins of Tony Mowbray after four seasons of inconsistency which culminated in a relegation battle last season, so this game will be a first proper test of where they now stand especially given their recent poor record at Molineux.
Rovers’ recent away form however makes for confident reading but as it’s the Championship opener, I expect this to be slightly cagey initially but with more spirit given that the Carabao Cup’s first round kicked off the season properly.
With that in mind, I just fancy Wolves to nick this but Blackburn will give them a good test.
Prediction: Wolves 2-1 Blackburn
Result: Wolves 2-2 Blackburn
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