EPL: Wolves ambush Chelsea

Wolves vs Chelsea
Venue: Molineux
Kick off: 3PM

Wolverhampton Wanderers play host to Chelsea this afternoon looking to end their winless start to the new Premier League campaign, having recorded three draws and a defeat before the international break.
After witnessing his team suffer a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United on the opening day of the season, Frank Lampard deserves a certain amount of credit for being able to pick up five points from matches against Leicester City, Norwich City and Sheffield United.
However, while there will be little concern about being off the pace at this stage of the season, Lampard is aware that he faces the most important week of his tenure so far.
While facing Wolves on away territory is a difficult test in itself, a home Champions League showdown with Valencia and a Premier League encounter with Liverpool keeps the club legend under pressure in the dugout.
Question marks regarding Lampard will remain unless Chelsea are able to make considerable improvements, most importantly at the back where they are yet to keep a clean sheet.
They appeared well set to break that streak when being two goals to the good against Sheffield United before the international break, only for the Blades to score within a minute of the second half getting underway and during the final seconds of normal time.
The mistakes and lapses in concentration in defence have been a common theme of the opening five matches in all competitions, and it is something which Lampard must eradicate in order to get anywhere near to challenging for the top four.
Antonio Rudiger and N’Golo Kante have been notable absentees who could return this weekend, although Lampard will not have been left impressed with the efforts of the players given extra responsibility without their presence in the team.
On the plus side, Chelsea have looked a threat at the opposite end of the pitch, where Tammy Abraham has netted four goals in his last two outings, but the onus now is to find some stability in a bid to get back into contention further up the table.
Meanwhile, Wolves are not contemplating a potential battle for survival, the defeat to Everton before the international break has left Nuno’s side sitting in 17th position, a far cry from the loftier heights that they experienced last season.
If Nuno is to be given the best platform to rotate his group of players until December, Wolves need to get their first Premier League victory on the board as soon.
There is a feeling that the West Midlands outfit can go deep in the Europa League, and the club’s owner are all too aware that the reward for the winners of the competition is a place in the Champions League.
Nevertheless, even though there is a strong argument that they have more chance of achieving that goal through their participation in European football’s second-tier tournament than through the Premier League, they will be eager to avoid losing any of the progression made in their opening year back in the top flight.
With Crystal Palace and Watford to follow facing an inconsistent Chelsea side, there is a window of opportunity to make quick progress up the table, but Nuno still has work to do in order to get the best out of his close-knit squad.

Wolves possible XI: Patricio, Bennett, Coady, Vallejo, Traore, Dendoncker, Neves, Moutinho, Otto, Jota, Cutrone.
Chelsea possible XI: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Zouma, Alonso, Kante, Jorginho, Pulisic, Mount, Willian, Abraham.