WOLVERHAMPTON – NEWCASTLE | Sunday 3pm
Few teams have done worse than Wolverhampton in this early part of the season. The adventure of the troop led by Bruno Lage – for the Portuguese coach this is his second season on the Wolves bench – began with two away defeats (Leeds and Tottenham) and a home draw with Fulham. Almost all of them low-scoring games, by now a trademark of the black and gold team. Which a year ago managed to finish tenth despite one of the least prolific attacks in the tournament. However, the defence is holding up: after going undefeated against the Cottagers, it limited the damage (1-0) in the match against Antonio Conte’s men last Saturday.
To remedy these kinds of problems, the club went back to the market. And it has brought yet another Lusitanian player to the West Midlands, for what is becoming a veritable ‘colony’. After getting their hands on midfielder Matheus Nunes, Wolverhampton secured the services of former Valencia player Gonçalo Guedes, one of the most interesting signings of this session. But, more importantly, Lage can now count on Mexican centre-forward Jimenez to return from injury and take on the weight of an attack that is struggling to break free.
Wolverhampton, meanwhile, made it through the second round of the League Cup this week with little fuss as Jimenez and Traoré beat Preston North End 2-1. The same result was recorded by Newcastle against Tranmere Rovers. Eddie Howe, the Magpies’ coach, indulged in turnover after coming close to a resounding victory against reigning champions Manchester City on the previous day. At 3-1 at the start of the second half, the game seemed to be over, but it only took Pep Guardiola’s battleship ten minutes to put things right again.
Eddie Howe
The Prediction
Tough game to read. Wolverhampton can grow thanks to their new signings but more determination is needed in the ball possession phase, the achilles heel of Lage’s formation. On the other hand, Newcastle have shown that they are a team capable of aiming for Europe – centre-forward Isak is arriving from Real Sociedad – a goal within reach, provided, however, that they are more continuous in terms of results. All in all, there seems to be a good chance that both will score at least one goal each.
Wolverhampton-Newcastle’s likely line-up
- WOLVERHAMPTON (4-3-3-): Sa; Jonny, Collins, Kilman, Ait-Nouri; Nunes, Neves, Moutinho; Neto, Jimenez, Guedes.
- NEWCASTLE (4-3-3): Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Willock, Guimaraes, Joelinton; Almiron, Wood, Saint-Maximin.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1
