EPL: Wolves plot to dim Brighton

Wolves vs. Brighton
Venue: Molineux
Kick Off: 3PM

Wolverhampton Wanderers will welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Molineux for their Premier League encounter this afternoon.

The hosts will be looking to claim back-to-back league victories on home soil for the first time since November.

The visitors will also be seeking to secure their third away win in four matches, having already beaten Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur on the road this month.

Wolves’ hopes of a top-six finish have receded in recent weeks after losing three of their last four Premier League games.

All three of these defeats have come against teams below them in the table, with a 3-2 home loss against Leeds United followed by back-to-back 1-0 away defeats against Newcastle United and Burnley.

While Bruno Lage will have been disappointed in his side’s dip in form, the West Midlands outfit have not really lost ground on the three teams above them, who also failed to win their last two matches.

Wolves currently sit eighth in the table, three points behind West Ham United in seventh and five points behind Manchester United in sixth, with a game in hand on both.

Lage’s men are currently on the longest run of any team in the Premier League without a draw, after winning eight and losing seven of their 15 matches in 2022.

Wolves have in fact drawn four of their last six encounters against Brighton, though they have won the last two, including a slender 1-0 success away from home in December’s reverse fixture, and victory today would see them do the double over the Seagulls for the very first time.

Brighton missed the chance to maintain their position in the top half of the Premier League, as they let a two-goal lead slip against Southampton to draw 2-2 on home soil last weekend.

Danny Welbeck scored Brighton’s fastest-ever Premier League goal, timed at one minute and 14 seconds, before a Mohammed Salisu own goal put the hosts two goals in front.

However, dead-ball specialist James Ward-Prowse pulled one back for the Saints from a free kick on the stroke of half time, before netting the equaliser in the 54th minute.

Graham Potter’s side have now drawn 14 league games this term, which can only be matched by Crystal Palace, and they have slipped down to 11th place, eight points behind Saturday’s opponents Wolves in eighth.

Brighton have fared better away from home so far this season, accumulating 25 points from 17 games on the road – which is more than the likes of Manchester United, West Ham and Leicester City – compared with only 16 points picked up at the Amex Stadium.

The Seagulls have, however, won only one of their last 11 league visits to Molineux, a 2-0 victory in April 2017 when both sides were in the Championship.

After Romain Saiss helped Wolves win the reverse fixture 1-0 five months ago, Potter’s men will be seeking revenge this time around and a victory on Saturday could see them finish the weekend as high as ninth place if other results were to go their way.

Wolves possible XI: Sa, Boly, Coady, Saiss, Semedo, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Jonny, Neto, Jimenez, Trincao.

Brighton possible XI: Sanchez, Veltman, Dunk, Webster; March, Mwepu, Bissouma, Caicedo, Cucurella, Trossard, Welbeck.