Wolves make the long journey south on Saturday afternoon for their latest Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion, and wolves.co.uk is here to provide a preview ahead of kick-off.
1 | Roll Call
With no fresh injury concerns heading into the weekend, or any players set to return from the treatment table - meaning the game comes too soon for Boubacar Traore who was back in the gym this week following his knee troubles, the big topic of conversation when it comes to team selection for Gary O’Neil this week has been around the goalkeeper position. With Sam Johnstone out injured for the visit of Manchester City last weekend, Jose Sa returned between the sticks and produced an impressive performance to keep out several on target efforts. O’Neil confirmed Johnstone has been training all week and although he said a decision will be made on who starts tomorrow, the head coach did tell the media on Friday afternoon that he’s ‘really clear on who is the best goalkeeper to start’ at Brighton.
Fabian Hurzeler gave a detailed update on his list of injured players in his pre-match press conference on Thursday morning, with the Brighton boss ruling out several of his key players for the visit of Wolves on Saturday afternoon. The German revealed Adam Webster (thigh) will be out for the next two to three weeks, James Milner will also be absent having had a setback in his recovery from a thigh problem, while midfielder Matt O’Riley – who signed from Celtic in the summer and is yet to make his Premier League bow for Brighton – is also out this weekend. Solly March (knee) Joao Pedro (ankle/foot) and Yankuba Minteh are also out of Saturday’s match, but Simon Adingra is expected to be back fit, while top scorer Danny Welbeck faces a late fitness test after the former England man went off with a back injury after his winner against Newcastle United last weekend.
2 | The Stat Pack
Goals
- Matheus Cunha | 3
- Danny Welbeck | 5
Assists
- Jorgen Strand Larsen | 2
- Carlos Baleba | 2
Biggest win
- Wolves 2-0 Burnley | August 2024
- Brighton 4-0 Crawley | August 2024
Cards
- Joao Gomes | 4
- Jack Hinshelwood | 3
Clean sheets
- Dan Bentley | 1
- Bart Verbruggen | 3
🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺 pic.twitter.com/Yzv6gesdNV
— Wolves (@Wolves) October 24, 2024
3 | Journey to Saturday
Wolves’ difficult start to the season – which has seen Gary O’Neil’s side face seven of last season’s top eight in their first eight games of the campaign – continued last weekend as they faced the 2023/24 Premier League champions Manchester City at Molineux, and the Old Gold came agonisingly close to earning only their second point of this term. Having taken the lead through Jorgen Strand Larsen, Wolves limited City to shots from distance with some excellent defending, but a stunning long-range effort from Josko Gvardiol, before John Stones’ controversial last-second winner, meant the search for a first win of 2024/25 heads to Brighton on Saturday.
Saturday’s hosts have picked up the form they showed under Roberto De Zerbi with new boss Hurzeler, with the Seagulls sitting in fifth place in the Premier League table heading into the weekend’s fixtures. Brighton come into their clash with Wolves off the back of just one defeat in all competitions – a 4-2 loss away at Chelsea last month – and they have already tasted success over the Old Gold at the Amex in the Carabao Cup third round. Since that loss to Chelsea, Brighton have beaten both Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United to put themselves back into contention for European football next season.
4 | A rare win at the Amex
Although the Amex has not been a happy hunting ground for Wolves since the club’s return to the Premier League back in 2018, the side from the Black Country did enjoy a successful clash on the south coast back in December 2021. Romain Saiss was the match winner as he earned Wolves a first win in five matches with a delightful strike after getting on the end of a Ruben Neves clipped ball. Without a goal or win for a few weeks before that game, the Old Gold banished both unwanted runs with a professional display at against Brighton on that Wednesday evening almost three years ago.
Brighton | Sanchez, Lamptey, Cucurella, Connolly (Mac Allister 60), Bissouma (Richards 83), Trossard, Mwepu (Lallana 83), Moder, March, Burn, Veltman.
Wolves | Sa, Semedo, Kilman, Coady, Saiss, Marcal, Neves, Moutinho, Trincao (Dendoncker 90), Podence, Hwang (Traore 16, Silva 90).
