Wolves are down in the capital this weekend taking on Brentford and wolves.co.uk assesses the main talking points pre-match.
1 | Roll Call
Gary O’Neil welcomed Craig Dawson back to training this week after the defender missed last weekend’s visit of Liverpool with an illness which he has since recovered from. Santi Bueno was also training after being taken off in the second half last weekend, with the pair providing a welcome return following fellow defender Yerson Mosquera’s injury, which will see the Colombian out for a prolonged period. He joins Boubacar Traore, Bastien Meupiyou, Enso Gonzalez and Sasa Kalajdzic in the treatment room, while the remainder of O’Neil’s squad are fit and available for selection at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday. Searching for their first win of the season, the head coach might be tempted to change his 11 from the side which fell to defeat against the Reds last time out, with wingers Carlos Forbs and Rodrigo Gomes pushing for a start after making an impact off the bench.
Similarly to Wolves, Brentford have a few long-term absentees who won’t be available for Saturday afternoon’s clash in west London, with Igor Thiago, Josh Dasilva and Rico Henry out with knee injuries, while Yoane Wissa – who was linked with a move to Molineux in the summer – expected to be out until late November with an ankle problem. Thomas Frank is also missing the likes of Gustavo Nunes (lower back) and Aaron Hickey (thigh), but he could be boosted by the returns of Christian Norgaard and Mathias Jenson, who could possibly feature against Wolves. The in-form Bryan Mbeumo is once again expected to lead the line for the Bees having found the back of the net five times in his side’s opening six Premier League matches.
2 | The Stat Pack
Goals
- Goncalo Guedes | 3
- Bryan Mbeumo | 5
Assists
- Jorgen Strand Larsen | 2
- Fabio Carvalho | 3
Biggest win
- Wolves 2-0 Burnley | August 2024
- Brentford 3-1 Southampton | August 2024
Cards
- Rayan Ait-Nouri | 3
- Keane Lewis-Potter | 2
Clean sheets
- Dan Bentley | 1
- Hakon Rafn Valdimarsson | 1
3 | Journey to Saturday
Gary O’Neil saw lots of positives despite the defeat to Liverpool last weekend, but he knows points are necessary, to go alongside the performances. Wolves have shown glimpses in all six of their Premier League outings this season, and last weekend got themselves back level against Liverpool thanks to Rayan Ait-Nouri’s first of the season, only to lose out to a Mohamed Salah penalty. That defeat followed tight, but ultimately unsuccessful encounters with Newcastle United and Aston Villa. The Old Gold’s only point so far this season came on the road at Nottingham Forest, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde scoring from distance, and the target will be to now build on that at Brentford. Gary O’Neil’s side have scored in every game since the opening day, which will give the head coach confidence, and he saw his side score four times at Gtech Community Stadium back in December.
Brentford have remarkably scored in the first minute in their past the Premier League matches – taking a combined total of 83 seconds to score all three games. On all three occasions however, the Bees have failed to win. The first two came at Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, who both fought back to win. Last weekend, after Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring early on, Brentford were pegged back by West Ham United and Tomas Soucek. That draw did extend Brentford’s unbeaten home start to the season however, after they beat Crystal Palace on the opening day and followed it up with a 3-1 success over Southampton on the final day of August. Their mixed results leave Thomas Frank’s side 12th on seven points.
4 | Chaotic victory in the capital
Back in January 2022 Wolves travelled to Brentford for one of the more eventful afternoons of recent years. A goalless first half wasn’t without delay as both Rico Henry and Mathias Jensen left the pitch following lengthy treatment and safety concerns around a drone flying over the pitch led to 27 minutes of first half injury time. After the interval, Joao Moutinho's fine outside of the foot strike opened the scoring before Toti was sent off and then had the red card withdrawn. Ivan Toney swept his side level but Ruben Neves curled home seven minutes later to earn three points for Wolves in a match which finished 150 minutes after it started.
Brentford | Lossl, Henry (Roerslev 28)(Wissa 58), Pinnock, Jansson, Ajer, Norgaard, Canos (Ghoddos 83), Jensen (Baptiste 27)(Forss 79), Mbeumo, Janelt, Toney.
Wolves | Sa, Semedo, Kilman, Coady, Saiss, Ait-Nouri, Neves, Moutinho, Dendoncker, Podence (Trincao 89), Silva (Adama 75).
