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Wolves v CHELSEA: Preview

Date: Saturday 8th April 2023

Venue: Molineux Stadium

Kick-off: 15:00 BST

It’s a funny old game.

We went from the perplexed Potter, to the bewildered Bruno and thankfully progressed to Frank Lampard towards the end of another eventful week at Chelsea FC.

For his first game as our caretaker manager, Frank takes us to Molineux to face a relegation battling Wolves. Wolves sit 14th and whilst we haven’t finished in the bottom half of the table since 1995-96, our ongoing poor form sees us in 11th place going into today’s game.

We come into the game after a 0-0 against Liverpool on Tuesday night, in yet another game of unbelievably wasted chances. Our confidence in front of goal looks shot to pieces as player after player seems to have been struck down with direction dyslexia, so any hopes of us replicating the 3-0 against them at Stamford Bridge in October are probably a bit of a stretch.

Wolves, who come into today’s game off the back of a 1-1 draw against Forest last weekend, have shipped plenty of goals this season and they’ve failed to score in four of their last six meetings with us. They turn up against the sides above them in the table though, winning their last three at home in that position, so we can expect a proper game.

The return of Frank Lampard of course, is very welcome, but whilst it lifted many of us from the minute it was announced, the squad might take a little longer. He doesn’t have a magic wand and he won’t sh*t miracles, but he’ll turn up, with a passion and a love for Chelsea FC, that just might be infectious enough to liven up that dressing room and put a bit of pride back into wearing the shirt.

MANAGER’S VIEWS

Going into today’s game, Wolves manager, Julen Lopetegui, says We don’t know if they are going to change anything or not. That’s why we put the focus on our daily work. We have seen the last matches of Chelsea, we know the quality of Frank Lampard.

I’m sorry for Potter but welcome Frank, this is football. It’s not easy to find one better squad than Chelsea’s, they have a lot of big players with quality. We have to be ready for that. We have to put the focus on our team. I cannot lose a lot of time thinking about what’s going to happen. If you want to play in these matches you have to be close to perfection. Each little detail is going to be key.”

Chelsea’s latest manager sacking meanwhile, sees Frank Lampard return for an interim stint this time, and he says “In terms of targets we want to win as many games as we can. I think there are big games ahead of us. Premier League is hard, Champions League is of course hard. We have to have a belief in the players we have in this squad. I’ve got a huge belief in them from the outside and I’ll tell them that today. It’s how we can take them in the right direction and of course we want to win games.

I watched the team, so credit to Bruno who took the team, credit to Graham Potter who I don’t know that well but everything I see about him, he’s a good man and a very good coach and sometimes for whatever reason things don’t align, don’t work, whatever; I’ve been in that situation personally. There’s nothing that I will do that will look backwards other than with a view to how we move forward. I obviously have my own ideas.”

SQUAD NEWS

For Wolves, Sasa Kalajdzic, Chiquinho (both knee) and Hwang Hee-chan (unspecified) are injured, whilst Ruben Neves and Jonny Castro are suspended. Hugo Bueno (hamstring) is available.

For Chelsea, Armando Broja (ACL), Thiago Silva (knee), and Cesar Azpilicueta (knee) remain out. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (back) is a doubt.

TEAMS

WOLVES (Possible line-up): Sa; Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Bueno; Lemina, Neves, Nunes; A. Traore, Jimenez, Podence

CHELSEA (Possible line-up): Kepa; James, Fofana, Badiashile, Chilwell; Kovacic, Kante, Enzo, Mount; Felix, Havertz

LAST SEASON

Wolves 0-0 Chelsea (19th Dec 2021)

FORM (PL)

WOLVES: DLWLLD

CHELSEA: LWWDLD

OTHER STUFF

  • Wolves’ 3 Premier League wins against Chelsea have all been at Molineux.
  • Chelsea have only won four of their past 20 Premier League games.
  • Wolves are without a win in four Premier League meetings.
  • Frank Lampard has lost 39 Premier League matches as a manager, two more than he has won.
  • Wolves have only managed one win and five points in their last seven league games.
  • Chelsea could go three successive league games without scoring for the first time since 2007.
  • Wolves have conceded 42 league goals in 2022-23.
  • Chelsea have scored 29 goals in as many top-flight games this season.
  • Wolves are looking for four successive Premier League home wins against sides starting the day above them in the table for the first time.

PREDICTION

Sportsmole: Wolves 0-1 Chelsea

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