Wolves vs. Nottingham Forest
Venue: Molineux
Kick off: 3PM
With the manager’s hotseat still vacant, Wolverhampton Wanderers will aim to snap a three-game losing run in the Premier League when Nottingham Forest visit Molineux this afternoon.
The hosts suffered a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea last weekend, while Steve Cooper’s side were pegged back in a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa on Monday night.
Julen Lopetegui, Pedro Martins, Rob Edwards – a plethora of names have been thrown about here, there and everywhere as Wolves search for Bruno Lage’s permanent successor, but the task of readying the team is set to fall upon the shoulders of Steve Davis once again.
The Under-18s head coach was handed a baptism of fire in the senior dugout as Wolves travelled to Chelsea last weekend, and no surprises were sprung at Stamford Bridge, as Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Armando Broja found the back of the net in a routine 3-0 win for the Blues.
While the powers-that-be work around the clock to find their new head coach, Wolves continue to languish in the bottom three of the table and sit in 18th place with just six points to their name, but Southampton are only one clear in 17th and could be overtaken this weekend.
It does not take a mastermind to pinpoint the root of Wolves’ struggles this season, with the Molineux club only finding the back of the net three times in their nine Premier League games – four fewer than the next two most profligate sides in Forest and Aston Villa.
The hosts’ three recent defeats to Chelsea, West Ham United and Manchester City ended with a total of eight goals shipped and none scored, but the champions are the only team to get the better of Davis’s men at Molineux this term, and Forest have been going through their own reshuffle ahead of this game.
In contrast to their upcoming hosts, Nottingham Forest have backed their under-fire manager Steve Cooper with a new contract at the City Ground, but two members of the recruitment team that oversaw the summer additions of 22 players are no more.
With Cooper seeking to maintain focus on his side’s on-field endeavours after such a farcical episode, Forest were in the ascendancy against Aston Villa on Monday when Emmanuel Dennis headed home the opener, but a thunderous effort from Ashley Young rescued a point for Steven Gerrard’s men.
As has been the case throughout the season, spending big in the transfer market has not translated into success for the Tricky Trees on the pitch, as they occupy 19th place in the table – one point better off than Leicester City and two adrift of safety.
A 1-1 draw with Villa did at least end Forest’s painful five-game losing run in the Premier League, but their winless streak in the top flight now stands at seven games, and a goal difference of -12 away from home is the joint-worst in the league alongside Bournemouth.
For all of Wolves’ failures in front of goal, Forest travel to Molineux having scored just once on the road in the 2022-23 Premier League, and the hosts ran out 4-0 winners when the sides met in the second round of the EFL Cup last season.
Wolves possible XI: Sa, Semedo, Kilman, Toti, Jonny, Nunes, Neves, Moutinho, Traore, Costa, Guedes.
Nottingham Forest possible XI: Henderson, Williams, Cook, McKenna, Toffolo, Kouyate, Yates, Freuler, Johnson, Dennis, Gibbs-White.