Premier League: More Blues for the Wounded Wolves?

Chelsea vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Two of England’s famous old clubs come together at Stamford Bridge on Saturday at a time when both have been going through some turmoil. 

Premier League: Chelsea vs Wolves will see new faces in both dugouts after a shaky start for both teams by their relative standards. Firth placed Chelsea are playing their first home league game under new boss Graham Potter, while back to back defeats have left Wolves in the Premier League relegation zone and that was enough for the club’s owners to pull the trigger and fire head coach Bruno Lage. 

The SBOTOP football stats team are firmly behind Chelsea for this game and with good reason, not least because they already have their new head coach in place. But a star-studded top four chasing side at home to the 18^th placed team looks like a home win by anyone’s money.  

Talking Points

Bright start for Auba at Chelsea

Following the sacking of former boss Thomas Tuchel, Potter was installed in the head coach’s office pretty rapidly and the former Brighton and Hove Albion boss has made a decent start to life in the limelight, with a Champions League draw at home to Salzburg, and an away victory on his Premier League debut as a Chelsea boss. And there was more good news for Blues fans who saw their new number nine score a brilliant goal to open his account and collect the three points away to Crystal Palace.

Pierre-Emerick Aubamayeng was offloaded by Barcelona as the La Liga giants worked to balance their books and he looks to have found the perfect home in West London. The way he chested down a header from Thiago Silva and rifled his shot into the net was the sort of clinical finishing the Blues have missed. Aubameyang’s former club Arsenal are currently the Kings of London, leading the Premier League. But that won’t bother Potter one bit if his new man keeps scoring the goals, to take advantage of the delivery of wing backs Ben Chilwell and Reece James and lift some pressure from the shoulders of top scorer Raheem Sterling.  

The Blues have a Champions League fixture at home to AC Milan on Wednesday night and then the attention will turn back to the league; but there is more encouraging news in that keeper Edouard Mendy and midfield lynchpin N’golo Kante are both nearing fitness and could feature on Saturday. 

Lage gone…what next for Wolves

A 3-0 loss at home to Manchester City is no disgrace, but the way Wolves surrendered in a 2-0 defeat away to West Ham was enough for the Wolves board to end their relationship with Bruno Lage. Academy boss and Wolves fan Steve Davis is taking control for the Chelsea game but reports are surfacing in Spain that Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui is being lined up as a replacement. Sevilla have made a poor start to their campaign and Lopetegui looks set to be replaced by Jorge Sampaoli, so if he rocks up at Molineux I’m not sure what the Wolves fans would make of that. 

Whoever takes over has work to do at either end of the pitch. The transfer of centre back Conor Coady to Everton and the arrival of Nathan Collins, signed from Burnley, hasn’t worked particularly well. Collins was red carded during Wolves’ loss to Manchester City and so Lage resorted to playing attacking midfielder Ruben Neves as a makeshift centre back against the Hammers.      

With three goals in eight games, to take your most creative player away from the front six doesn’t seem to make sense. An inexperienced front three of Daniel Podence, Goncalo Guedes and Pedro Neto could do with Neves in support.

History

The Blues have had plenty of success in the head to head Chelsea vs Wolves results, with 11 wins from the last 18 encounters. Wolves have won three and there have been four draws. But three of those draws occurred over the past two seasons, during which Chelsea have failed to beat the All Golds. In the 2020/21 campaign Wolves won this fixture at home, 2-1, and then the two teams drew 0-0 at Stamford Bridge. Last season a goalless draw at Molineux was followed by a 2-2 draw at the Bridge as Coady scored a 97^th minute equaliser to grab a point for Wolves.     

Wolves’ results over the last six games haven’t actually been that bad, with two wins, two draws and two defeats, while Chelsea have won three, drawn one and lost two.

The Blues have won two and drawn one of their three home games while Wolves have won one and lost three of their away games 

Betting Tip

The Chelsea vs Wolves betting odds are right behind the Blues for a first home league win under Potter, at a price of 1.36, and it’s difficult to see any other outcome. The draw at 4.46, or even a Wolves win at 7.52, would spoil the new Chelsea boss’s Stamford Bridge welcome… but Wolves don’t look ready to take on a challenge this hard.

 

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