Having won the first Premier League match on Christmas Eve for almost 30 years, Wolves are back in action this evening as they travel to Brentford in their second festive fixture this Christmastime.
#1 Inside both camps
Gary O’Neil has seen his squad disrupted with illness during the past fortnight, with Nelson Semedo, Craig Dawson, Mario Lemina and Matheus Cunha all affected last week, before Boubacar Traore, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Fabio Silva were absent from the squad for the weekend’s Molineux win over Chelsea, which saw academy stars Owen Hesketh, Tawanda Chirewa and Ty Barnett called up to the senior side. Although Semedo, Dawson, Lemina and Cunha all played last time out, it is still to be seen if the latter trio will return this evening, although there is also question marks over Dawson after the experienced defender was helped off the pitch on Christmas Eve after suffering a deep gash to his leg when he and Jose Sa collided when the pair made a goal-saving block.
Without a game at the weekend, Brentford will have been able to use their free time to get players back up to full fitness, but Thomas Frank’s men will still be missing several key men for the visit of Wolves this evening. Bryan Mbeumo is out after picking up a foot injury earlier this month, while Ben Mee is suspended after being sent off in the 2-1 loss to Aston Villa 10 days ago, as is Frank Onyeka after the midfielder collected his fifth yellow against Villa. Rico Henry has already missed a large part of the season after requiring surgery on a knee injury and will be out until the summer, while Aaron Hickey (thigh), Kevin Schade (groin), Kristoffer Ajer (ankle) and Josh Dasilva (thigh) are all expected to be out. Ivan Toney is still serving his long-term suspension until mid-January, but Mathias Jensen, who has been absent in recent weeks, could be back this evening.
Under the lights in LDN.
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 27, 2023
COYW 👊 pic.twitter.com/q6JyLZ5ayJ
#2 Coming into it
Wolves arrive at the Gtech Community Stadium off the back of a morale-boosting Christmas Eve victory over Chelsea at Molineux, which extended the team’s unbeaten record at home to seven matches. But away from the Black Country has been a different story for O’Neil’s men who are yet to pick up a point on their travels since the win over Bournemouth back in October and will be aiming to end that record this evening.
Wolves’ last three | W 2-1 Chelsea (H) – L 0-3 West Ham (A) – D 1-1 Nottm Forest (H)
The Bees have had 10 days to prepare for the visit of Wolves, after their match on Saturday against Manchester City was postponed due to last season’s treble winners competing in – and then winning – the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia. Whether that will give Frank’s side an advantage heading into Wednesday evening’s match, it’s yet to be seen, but they will be hoping to get back to winning ways after three defeats on the bounce.
Brentford’s last three | L 1-2 Aston Villa (H) – L 0-1 Sheffield United (A) – L 1-2 Brighton (A)
#3 Since last time
Wolves 2-0 Brentford | 15th April 2023
Wolves’ last meeting with Brentford saw a first – and only – goal in gold and black for Diego Costa as the legendary Brazilian set his side on their way to three points which secured back-to-back Premier League victories at Molineux. Hee Chan Hwang doubled the advantage and put the game out of site for the Bees in the second half as he capitalised on Ethan Pinnock’s failure to deal with a cross.
Wolves’ XI | Sa, Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Toti, Lemina, Gomes, Nunes, Sarabia, Cunha, Costa.
Just two members of the Wolves team which started against Brentford in April are no longer at Molineux, with Nunes and Costa moving on this summer, but on the Bees side of things, they could be missing a large part of the side who started at Molineux last time. Only three of their 11 started against Villa – Pinnock, Mee and Christian Norgaard. As said above, Mee is suspended after his sending off, while Hickey, Henry, Dasilva, Schade, Mbuemo and Toney are also absent. Only one member of the Brentford team is no longer at the club, after David Raya joined Arsenal in August.
Brentford’s XI | Raya, Hickey, Pinnock, Mee, Henry, Norgaard, Jensen, Dasilva, Schade, Mbuemo, Toney.
#4 In the media
This Christmastime, the Express and Star’s Liam Keen has looked at how Wolves have changed during the last 12 months, with the club having sat rock bottom of the Premier League standings last Christmas Day, to now being mid-table after a dramatic year at Molineux.
“Gary O’Neil spent the night of Christmas Eve, after Wolves’ win over Chelsea, analysing the game and preparing the team for the Bees. The players instantly went into recovery mode after the game and were given Christmas Day off, although they did have some recovery work to do from home, before returning to training today ahead of another trip to the capital.
“On Christmas Day a year ago, Wolves sat bottom of the Premier League with just 10 points from 15 games and eight goals scored. A year later, having now beaten Chelsea 2-1, Wolves sit 11th in the division with 22 points from 18 games and 23 goals to their name. Under O’Neil, they are not only surviving, but thriving.”
On the topic of reflection, over at brentfordfc.com, Bees chairman Cliff Crown has looked back at Brentford’s 2023, in what he calls a ‘remarkable 12 months’ for the west London club.
“Our second season in the Premier League yielded a ninth-place finish away wins at Chelsea and Spurs and a memorable final game of the season: a 1-0 victory over Manchester City. In doing so, we became the only team to beat the treble winners home and away in 2022/23. The 2023/24 season kicked off in August with a 2-2 draw at home to Spurs. As I write this message, we are 12th in the league with the highlight to date being our third consecutive win at Stamford Bridge since promotion to the top flight.
“As the year draws to a close, I would like to thank everyone at the club for all their efforts over the last 12 months and to thank you, the fans, for your continued support. The atmosphere we have created together at the Gtech is brilliant and your vocal, loud and proud support away from home is greatly appreciated by the players.”
