Wolves will play host to a struggling Burnley side at Molineux this weekend. With Wolves picking up five points from their opening four games, they will look to kick on following the international break. Burnley, on the other hand, come into this game with only one point, and that was a 0-0 draw against Southampton on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.
Struggling Burnley Face Wolves at Molineux
Looking To Push On
With the international break over, Wolves will look to push on and will want to keep their unbeaten run going. Nuno will be looking for their second successive victory after picking up their first three points of the season last time out against West Ham.
Burnley would have been hoping for a better start to the season. They started their campaign earlier than most teams due to playing in the Europa League qualifying stages. But after a 4-2 aggregate loss against Olympiacos, Burnley will have no European football distractions for the remainder of the season.
Three Key Battles
Ryan Bennett v Chris Wood
Ryan Bennett helped Wolves keep their first clean sheet of the season last time out it will be tough for isolated Burnley forward Chris Wood. He is yet to score and is struggling for form so far this season, only averaging one shot per game.
Joao Moutinho v Ashley Westwood
Joao Moutinho has been crucial for Wolves since joining in the summer, averaging 3.3 tackles per game as well as 88.4% pass success rate from an average of 58.3 passes per game. He will come up against former Aston Villa man Ashley Westwood, who has helped break up play with 2.5 tackles per game and has a pass success rate 80.8% from an average of 50.8 passes per game.
Raul Jimenez v James Tarkowski
Both of these players came back from international duty this week, so there will be no rustiness from them, with Raul Jimenez scoring from the penalty spot in Mexico’s defeat to Uruguay and James Tarkowski helping England keep a clean sheet against Switzerland. It will be a big battle to see who comes out on top. With James Tarkowski averaging 2.3 tackles and 1.8 blocks per game, he will be Burnley’s main man to stop the Wolves striker, Raul Jimenez, who will be looking to score his second goal of the season after going goalless in his last three games.
Will History Repeat Itself?
In the last six meetings between these two, it’s been mixed results, both sides winning twice and drawing twice, with the winning team of the first game repeating the reverse fixture. This is a trend that started the last time these two sides were in the Premier League in 2009/2010.
Wolves won the first game 2-0 then won the reverse fixture 2-1. Then it was Burnley’s turn when the sides met in the Championship in 2012/2013 winning the first game 2-0 and then won 2-1. The last time these two sides met, both games in the 2015/2016 Championship season finished in draws, a 0-0 draw at Molineux and then a 1-1 draw at Turf Moor.
Did You Know?
Burnley have never won a Premier League away match against promoted opposition (W0 D6 L4), including a 2-0 defeat by Wolves at Molineux in December 2009.
Wolves are looking for a first win in 15 home matches in the Premier League (D4 L10) to end their longest winless run at Molineux in the top flight.
Team News
Raul Jimenez is recovering from suffering small muscular discomfort picked up on international duty but there are no new injury concerns for Nuno. This means Wolves could name an unchanged line-up up for the fifth game in a row. Record signing Adama Traore will be looking for his first start of the season, though, after coming off the bench to score the winner last time out against West Ham.
Predicted Line-Ups
Wolves (3-4-3): Patricio, Doherty, Bennett, Coady, Boly, Jonny, Neves, Moutinho, Costa, Jimenez, Jota.
Burnley (4-4-1-1): Hart, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor, Lennon, Cork, Westwood, McNeil, Hendrick, Wood.
Prediction
Wolves 2-0 Burnley
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