Wolverhampton Wanderers take on Luton Town on Saturday, April 27 at Molineux in the Premier League. Kickoff is at 3:00 PM GMT. Last Word on Football brings you a Wolves Predicted Lineup as Gary O’Neil’s side takes on Rob Edwards’ Luton.
Wolves Predicted Lineup vs Luton Town
How Wolves Have Lined up Recently
Matchday 🆚 The Hatters at home 🏟️ pic.twitter.com/YENA7WMyOV
— Wolves (@Wolves) April 25, 2024
In their most recent match against Bournemouth, Wolves returned to a 4-4-1-1, which was last played against Burnley in March. Jose Sa is the first-choice goalkeeper. He has kept four clean sheets this season, saving 108 of the 157 shots he’s faced this season. This averages to making 3.7 shots saved per match, only conceding an average of 1.6 goals per match.
Wolves played a back three against Arsenal, West Ham and Nottingham Forest but returned to a back four against Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth. Nélson Semedo has consistently started for Wolves playing 32 out of 34 matches this season; both matches missed were due to suspension.
Toti Gomes and captain Max Kilman were the centre-back pairing. Toti has started 27 matches so far this season for O’Neil’s side, making appearances in all but two matches this season. He has also got three assists this season, with the most recent assist coming in their last league win against Marco Silva’s Fulham. As for Max Kilman, he has started every single league match for Wolves this season, also scoring on two occasions. Kilman is one of the league leaders in aerial duels won, with a record of 72.4%.
Santiago Bueno played at right back against Bournemouth. Unlike the rest of the defence, he has only started on eight occasions for O’Neil’s side.
Mario Lemina started as the defensive midfielder against Bournemouth, which is a change from the centre midfield position he has played in recently. He has started nine of the last ten matches, with the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal being the only exception. Thomas Doyle and Joao Gomes started in front of him in the two central midfield positions.
Rayan Ait-Nouri started at left wing against Bournemouth, which is a major change from his usual role at left-back. He returned to the starting lineup after missing the Arsenal game which was a rotated lineup from O’Neil due to a stretched squad because of fatigue. He scored the crucial equaliser against Burnley. Pablo Sarabia also switched from his usual position of attacking midfield to right wing. Much like Ait-Nouri, Sabaria returned to the starting lineup after coming on as a late sub against Arsenal.
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Hwang Hee-Chan played his first 90 minutes since his return from injury. The last time he had played a full match for Wolves was in December 2023. He is on 10 goals for the season and almost extended his record to 11, but his strike against Bournemouth was disallowed.
Recent Form
Despite having a very positive season, which has included doing the double over Tottenham Hotspur and being just minutes away from an FA Cup semi-final, Wolves’ form as recent has been quite poor.
Wolves are winless in their last seven matches in all competitions, with their last win coming at home to Fulham in early March. Before this, they were on a four-match win streak. This run included wins over Tottenham, Sheffield United and Brentford in the league.
In their last five league matches, Wolves have only gained two points out of a possible 15, putting their European hopes in tatters. At the start of April, they earned a point away to Burnley at Turf Moor. In this game, possession was even, but O’Neil’s side did create more big chances. Their next match resulted in a 2-1 home loss to West Ham. Wolves led in the game through a Sabaria penalty, but they weren’t able to hold onto the lead against the Europa Conference League holders.
Wolves were then able to gain a point at the City Ground against former manager Nuno Espírito Santo’s Nottingham Forest. Wolves led through Cunha before Forest was able to turn the game on its head, yet Cunha was able to rescue a point. In this match, Wolves controlled possession, yet Forest had more shots as well as more clear-cut chances.
The resulting match led to a defeat against title challengers Arsenal, who with their win returned to the top of the league. Arsenal dominated the match, having 24 total shots, however, they only had one clear-cut chance. That being said, the hosts were only able to have five shots in total, yet once again possession was balanced. The last time Wolves beat Arsenal was back in 2021.
Wolves’ last match was a 1-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, who leapfrogged Wolves with this result. Wolves dominated possession, obtaining 64% of the ball, yet failed to have any clear-cut chances compared to Bournemouth’s three. Iraola’s side peppered Sa in the Wolves’ goal, having 21 shots in total. This means in their last two matches, Wolves have conceded 45 shots. This averages around Wolves conceding a shot roughly every four minutes.
Despite this rough patch, the Wolves will hope to turn their fortunes around. In their last five games, they obtained the 19th-best record, with only Sheffield United with a worse record. That being said, O’Neil’s side have lost fewer matches in recent form than Luton, whose 2-1 win over Bournemouth helped their odds to survive relegation.
Injury News
O’Neil has four injuries to contend with. Craig Dawson has been out with a groin injury which he picked up in April. He is expected to return in late June. Wolves’ defensive woes do not stop there; Santi Bueno has been ruled out after suffering a hamstring injury against Bournemouth, leaving the club with just two centre halves available for selection.
Pedro Neto picked up a hamstring injury on March 9 and was initially expected to return next month.
O’Neil stated in a press conference after the FA Cup quarter-final “ Neto is looking like it’s probably done for the season, and maybe back towards the very end of it.”
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, who has played in 19 league matches, was initially ruled out until late May, but Wolves report that he could make his return tomorrow.
Wolves Predicted Lineup vs Luton Town
GK – Sa
LB – Semedo
CB – Gomes
CB – Kilman
RB – Bueno
DM – Lemina
LW – Ait-Nouri
CM – Doyle
CM – Martinelli
RW – Sabaria
ST – Hwang
