Wolves Vs Leeds United Preview
Our home form between now and the end of the season needs to carry us to safety.
Leeds, Chelsea, Brentford, Palace, Villa and Everton will all present tough challenges and I’m sure some of them will beat us, but there’s no reason Wolves can’t get a good share of the points.
It’s a weird season and we do have a habit of being the victim of high points requirements, but somewhere between 38-40 should be enough.
Despite the loss last weekend, we’ve managed 17 points from our last 11 matches. Repeat that for the final 11 and we won’t have anything to worry about. Easy, right?
Leeds
I thought Leeds were wrong to sack Jessie Marsch. Only because they seemed to have invested heavily in players to deploy his preferred high-energy style.
The results weren’t there to support him continuing but I thought he’d eventually do enough to move them away from safety.
Javi Gracia is a capable pair of hands, as we know from his time at Watford, but it did seem like they ended up picking the only manager that was readily available and up for taking on the job.
He’s overseen a crucial win over Southampton, a decent draw against Brighton and a loss to Chelsea so far. Not too shabby but they remain in the bottom three.
They’re away at Arsenal after the international break so will be desperate for a result tomorrow, but there are some favourable fixtures to come in April. I’d rate them at exactly 50/50 to survive.
Midfielder Tyler Adams has been ruled out for a few weeks with a thigh injury and he’ll be a miss for them.
Wolves
One of the big plusses for me in the Newcastle game was Pedro Neto looking sharp in his 45 minutes. That was a big improvement from the rusty performance we saw against Spurs.
Hwang is back too and Lopetegui has consistently used him when available so it wouldn’t surprise me if he started tomorrow, particularly after scoring on his return.
I don’t know how long Pablo Sarabia is out, but there are still plenty of other configurations for the head coach to ponder in attack with Traore, Podence and Cunha also part of the conversation.
The midfield is another conundrum with Matheus Nunes dropped at St. James’ Park. Do we put him back in and hope for the performance we’ve expected all season or go with someone steadier? I don’t know the answer.
It’s good to have this squad and keep the opposition guessing. I’d prefer a settled team playing consistently well, but this is better than losing with a threadbare group.
Predictions
Well done to Steppenwolfe, BigNachos, AussieWolf, Matt Cook and wishfart who all correctly predicted the score against Newcastle.
Rich remains four-points clear at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 27.
As always, if you’d like to join in with the Prediction League this season, it’s simple – just leave your prediction in the comment section below using the boxes provided. Then repeat for every preview article throughout the season, making sure you always use the same email address to make your prediction. Your email is what ties you to your overall score.
You can read my prediction for the game in the comment section below.
Up The Wolves!