We sit up for Sunday’s Premier League sport at Molineux with our Wolves vs Chelsea prediction and preview. Enzo Maresca will take cost of his first Premier League away match and might be seeking to bounce again from defeat on the opening weekend.
Wolves vs Chelsea Stats: The Key Insights
- The Opta supercomputer is backing Enzo Maresca to choose up his first three factors as Chelsea head coach, with the Blues profitable 52.6% of pre-match simulations.
- Wolves didn’t identify a single English participant of their beginning XI on Matchday 1 towards Arsenal, the primary time they’ve completed so in a Premier League sport.
- Enzo Fernández led all Chelsea gamers for photographs (three) and touches within the opposition field (seven) of their 2-0 opening day defeat to Man Metropolis. In solely one in every of his earlier 46 Premier League video games had he managed seven touches within the opposition field, doing so in January towards Fulham.
Chelsea journey to the west Midlands to tackle Wolves on Sunday seeking to give new head coach Enzo Maresca a win in his second Premier League sport in cost.
It’s actually been a chaotic begin to Maresca’s tenure after becoming a member of from Leicester Metropolis. After a troubled pre-season, Chelsea had been crushed 2-0 at residence by reigning champions Manchester Metropolis on the opening weekend.
A lot has been manufactured from the scale of Chelsea’s squad, and although Maresca tried to downplay such considerations this week by saying over 15 gamers are coaching away from the primary group, defeat in his second sport will solely result in extra questions.
Chelsea handed 4 Premier League membership debuts to gamers towards Metropolis (Marc Guiu, Renato Veiga, Kiernan Dewsbury-Corridor, Pedro Neto), taking their complete to 23 debuts for the reason that begin of final season, 5 greater than another membership who haven’t been promoted in that point.
Skilled gamers corresponding to Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell look set to go away Stamford Bridge, and defeat this weekend at Molineux can be the primary time for the reason that 1973-74 marketing campaign that Chelsea have misplaced their opening two matches of a season.
Maresca, in the meantime, would develop into the primary Chelsea boss to lose his first two matches in cost since Gianluca Vialli in 1998.
Nevertheless, hope will come within the type of Wolves’ opening weekend defeat at Arsenal, dropping 2-0 after objectives from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka.
It was a continuation of Wolves’ poor finish to final time period beneath Gary O’Neil, wherein they misplaced their final three video games. They’ve solely misplaced extra in a row as soon as earlier than: a six-game run between Might and August 2021 (three with Nuno Espírito Santo, three with Bruno Lage), whereas the final Wolves supervisor to lose 5 in a row was Terry Connor in March and April 2012 (seven).
Wolves themselves haven’t had a straightforward switch window, with key gamers corresponding to Neto and Max Kilman departing the membership for large cash. There are additionally reviews within the media that O’Neil is proscribed in what he is ready to spend on incomings from these gross sales.
Additional encouragement for Chelsea will stem from their hosts’ poor report at residence in 2024, with Wolves dropping six of their 9 Premier League residence video games to this point this calendar 12 months.
No aspect has misplaced extra in what’s a stark comparability to 2023, the place Wolves misplaced simply 4 of their 20 league video games at Molineux.
Chelsea, although, have conceded no less than as soon as in every of their final 16 Premier League away video games, their longest run and not using a clear sheet on the street since a run of 24 between January 1993 and February 1994.
Additionally they recorded their first victory of the season on Thursday when a Christopher Nkunku penalty and one other aim from Noni Madueke gave Chelsea a 2-0 win over Swiss aspect Servette of their UEFA Convention League play-off first leg at Stamford Bridge.
When it comes to group information, Chelsea might be with out Reece James till no less than September, whereas Wolves will once more miss Nelson Semedo by means of a continued suspension from the ultimate day of final season.
Wolves vs Chelsea Head-to-Head
Wolves have received their final three Premier League video games towards Chelsea, as many as that they had of their earlier 17 (4 attracts, 10 defeats). Solely as soon as earlier than have they received extra consecutive league video games towards the Blues, a run of 5 between November 1938 and September 1947.
Chelsea are additionally winless in 4 away league video games towards Wolves (one draw, three losses), since a 5-2 victory in September 2019 beneath Frank Lampard. The final assembly between the perimeters got here again in February, when a Matheus Cunha hat-trick and an Axel Disasi own-goal helped Wolves to a 4-2 victory at Stamford Bridge.
Wolves vs Chelsea Prediction
Regardless of the obvious chaos, the Opta supercomputer nonetheless has Chelsea as clear favourites to win at Molineux, with Maresca’s aspect triumphing in over half (52.6%) of 10,000 pre-match simulations.
Wolves, in the meantime, are given a 24.0% likelihood of taking the victory themselves to choose up their first factors of the season. The chance of a primary draw between the perimeters since 2022 stands at 23.4%.
After the opening weekend, Chelsea are nonetheless predicted to complete within the European locations which might be some achievement in Maresca’s first season. They finish the marketing campaign within the high 4 in 22.1% of simulations. Wolves are anticipated to narrowly keep away from relegation, with sixteenth their most possible end, happening in 21.7% of the supercomputer’s simulations.
Wolves vs Chelsea Predicted Lineups
Wolves: José Sá, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Toti Gomes, Yerson Mosquera, Matt Doherty, João Gomes, Mario Lemina, Hwang Hee-chan, Matheus Cunha, Rodrigo Gomes, Jørgen Strand Larsen
Chelsea: Robert Sánchez, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill, Malo Gusto, Moisés Caicedo, Kiernan Dewsbury-Corridor, Christopher Nkunku, Enzo Fernández, Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson
Opta Energy Rankings
The Opta Energy Rankings are a world group rating system that assigns a capability rating to over 13,000 home soccer groups on a scale between zero and 100, the place zero is the worst-ranked group on the earth and 100 is the perfect group on the earth.
Forward of kick-off this weekend, right here is the Opta Energy Rating for either side:
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