After their Carabao Cup progression in midweek, Wolves face Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, and wolves.co.uk provides a thorough preview ahead of kick-off.
1 | Roll Call
Wednesday night’s cup win over Burnley will give Gary O’Neil a few selection headaches heading into the visit to the City Ground, as the head coach rang the changes with 10 players coming in from the side which fell to Chelsea last weekend, with many of those impressing during the 2-0 win over Burnley. O’Neil will also have Nelson Semedo back available following the three-game suspension which delayed his start to the new campaign, but the positive displays of both Matt Doherty and Pedro Lima in his place will ensure the right-back decision is a difficult one. Goncalo Guedes’ brace might have been enough to secure him a spot in the team, while question marks also remain over who starts in defence, after shipping six to the Blues on Sunday.
Forest also made 10 changes for their second round cup tie in midweek, but were on the wrong side of the result, eventually going down on penalties to Newcastle United. Nuno Espirito Santo only stuck with former Magpie midfielder Elliot Anderson from the team which overcame Southampton last weekend, and with no injuries currently affecting his line-up, the ex-Wolves head coach could be tempted to switch straight back to the 11 which claimed three points at St Mary’s Stadium. This could mean another start for former Molineux member Morgan Gibbs-White, who celebrated his first senior England call-up on Thursday, while ex-Old Gold defender Willy Boly came off the bench against the Saints before playing the whole 90 minutes against Newcastle in midweek, so is likely to miss out.
2 | The Stat Pack 2024/25
Goals
- Goncalo Guedes | 2
- Chris Wood | 1
Assists
- Rayan Ait-Nouri | 1
- N/A | 0
Biggest win
- Wolves 2-0 Burnley | August 2024
- Southampton 0-1 Nottm Forest | August 2024
Cards
- Yerson Mosquera | 1 yellow, 0 reds
- Ibrahim Sangare | 2 yellows, 0 reds
Clean sheets
- Dan Bentley | 1
- Matz Sels | 1
3 | Journey to Wednesday
Wolves were able to bounce back from their difficult start to the Premier League season on Wednesday evening, with a comfortable victory over Championship outfit Burnley. O’Neil’s side could not have wished for a trickier opening than Arsenal away and Chelsea at home in their first two league fixtures, but they were in complete control throughout the 90 minutes at Molineux in midweek. They could have been even further ahead than just Guedes’ first goal in over 18 months had Clarets keeper Vaclav Hladky not been at his best to deny several good chances for the Old Gold. The Portuguese’s second of the game followed shortly after half-time with a neat chipped effort, before the team happily played out the rest of the match to secure a clash with Brighton & Hove Albion in round three.
Nuno’s side have had a more positive beginning to their 2024/25 campaign, having faced the two clubs from the south coast in their opening pair of fixtures, which has seen them claim four points against Bournemouth and Southampton. Having gone ahead through Chris Wood inside half hour versus the Cherries, Forest were pegged back late on thanks to Antoine Semeyo’s effort and had to settle for a draw, before Gibbs-White got his season up and running with the only goal of the game at St Mary’s last weekend. A much changed side then fell on penalties to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, meaning the Tricky Trees can concentrate solely on the league during the next few months.
A great effort 👊 pic.twitter.com/5vnLIKqAxq
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 28, 2024
4 | Winning at the City Ground
Wolves’ record at the City Ground in recent Premier League seasons has seen the Old Gold claim two score draws, and prior to the League Cup hammering in 2021 – in which Wolves scored four without reply – you have to go back to the September of 2017 for the last league win for the visitors. In Nuno’s first season as Wolves head coach, Diogo Jota scored twice in the East Midlands, either side of a Muzzy Carayol effort to secure three points on their way to Premier League promotion.
Wolves | Ruddy, Doherty, Batth, Coady, Miranda, Vinagre (Deslandes 64), Saiss, Neves, Cavaleiro (Marshall 62), Bonatini (N’Diaye 83), Jota.
Forest | Smith, Mills, Worrall, Bridcutt, Darikwa, Traore, Dowell (Carayol 62), McKay (Cummings 71), Osborn, Brereton Diaz (Walker 86), Murphy.
