FA Cup: Wolves Deal with Another Injury Ahead of Coventry Clash

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Coventry City

It will be a night to remember at Molineux Stadium, as Gary O’Neil and the rest of the Wolves will play host to a convincing Coventry for an FA Cup quarterfinals match.

Coventry are joined by Leicester as the only outfits left in the tournament that are not from the English top flight, and both outfits have proven that they’re deserving of FA Cup glory with how they’ve been performing in the tournament this season.

The Sky Blues will march to Molineux Stadium with happy feet, and they’re keen on pouncing on the ailing Wolves while the iron is hot. But it won’t be a cakewalk whatsoever, as O’Neil’s Wolves have proven that they’re still a threatening side despite their injury woes.

Talking points

Wolves suffer a huge blow with Neto injury

Wolves star and top-assist man, Pedro Neto, was forced off at halftime due to an apparent hamstring injury during their 2-1 Premier League victory over the Cottagers. He recently had a scan which showed no muscle damage, so Wolves fans can only hope and pray that their 24-year-old maestro won’t be sidelined for too long.

The Portuguese winger already suffered from hamstring tightness last week during Wolverhampton’s 0-3 defeat against Newcastle and was sent off during halftime.

Gary O’Neil humbly admitted that the decision to select Neto against Fulham “backfired,” but the Wolves head coach was keen on the club’s defence, saying that the club had done full due diligence over Neto’s condition ahead of the tie with Fulham.

“Pedro had a really good week. He had a scan that was completely clear. No muscle damage at all. He felt really good yesterday in training. Felt good again today. So just really, really disappointed that lands on me eventually, whether the decision to play him today was right or not.” O’Neil stated.

Wolverhampton were already dealing with an array of injuries before Neto went down. Key players like Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-Chan, Jeanricner Bellegarde, Craig Dawson, and now Pedro Neto are all either out or doubtful against Coventry, so it’ll be interesting to see if O’Neil and the rest of his outfit can pull off strong FA Cup 2024 results against the Championship Sky Blues during their quarterfinal tie.

Ellis Simms is finding his form

Haji Wright has been the spearhead for Coventry’s offence this season, boasting 13 goals in six assists in the campaign thus far. And in recent weeks, Coventry have found a formidable running mate for Wright, as Ellis Simms, their No. 9, has been mega for Coventry in the past few weeks.

The former Toffee has recorded 12 goals across all competitions for Coventry, which is pretty respectable, but his meteoric rise over the past few weeks has cemented his status as a goal-scoring threat.

The 23-year-old was able to record two hat-tricks in a span of nine days! Simms first wreaked havoc against Maidstone United in the fifth round of the FA Cup. The young striker scored back-to-back goals with haste in the early minutes of the first half, and then proceeded to seal the win with another goal right before halftime, virtually securing their spot in the quarterfinals right before halftime.

Simms, with a newfound swagger, did more of the same against Rotherham in the Championship, where he scored three rapid-fire goals in the first half. Coventry cruised past Rotherham with a 5-0 score line.

Coventry’s No. 9 is starting to heat up in the most opportune time, as they’ll face an ailing Wolves squad in the quarterfinals. It won’t be a walk in the park for the Championship side whatsoever, but if Simms and Wright show up and continue to deliver during their quarterfinal tie against Wolverhampton, then Coventry will be in a good position to advance to the semis.

History

Both outfits claimed victory in their previous match. Wolverhampton bounced back from their humbling 0-3 defeat against Newcastle and edged out Fulham with a 2-1 home victory, while the Championship side won against West Brom thanks to Haji Wright scoring in both halves for Coventry.

In their past 13 head-to-heads since 2004, majority have ended in a draw and no outfit has claimed a sizable advantage over the other. In those 13 games, both Wolves and the Sky Blues have won four matches and tallied five draws to boot.

Betting tip

Despite dealing with a handful of injuries, Wolverhampton showed that they are still a formidable foe, as they edged out the mighty Cottagers 2-1. But after losing their top assist man, Pedro Neto, this SBOTOP writer finds it hard to imagine that O’Neil’s men can continue to garner wins moving forward, especially against a steamrolling Coventry.

The FA Cup 2024 betting odds have the Premier League side, Wolverhampton, as the favourites at 1.58, while the Championship Sky Blues are the underdogs at 4.91 with a draw price of 3.72.

With their current forms and the availability of their players, my betting tip is Coventry at 4.91. The Sky Blues’s final third has been doing work and steamrolling in the past few weeks, and going up against the banged up Wolves just strengthens Coventry’s case to advance to the semifinals.

 

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