WATCH OUR PREVIEW FORWOLVES TRIP TO THE AMEX TO FACE BRIGHTON
TEAM NEWS
Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui has reported no new fitness concerns.
Brighton forward Evan Ferguson is still doubtful after missing their past two games with an ankle issue. Defender Joel Veltman, who has been nursing a muscle problem, could return to the starting line-up but Adam Lallana, Jakub Moder, Jeremy Sarmiento and Tariq Lamptey remain sidelined.
JULEN LOPETEGUI
There is no fresh injury news and Wolves are as they were before the win over Crystal Palace.
Ruben Neves’ celebration after his goal against Palace was “about the needs we have to get points to achieve our aim.”
On how he would rate Wolves’ progress since he arrived, the Spaniard said: “We have worked a lot and we still have much more to achieve our aim.”
He added: “We are in the middle of the battle and we are going to need a lot more points.”
On whether he agreed four points would be enough to guarantee survival: “No. The worst thing you can do is think about things that don’t happen yet.”
He believes Brighton are currently the “best footballing side in the world” and added: “We have to go there with the aim and spirit to fight and compete with them.”
MATCH FACTS & STATS
Head-to-head
- Brighton’s 3-2 victory at Molineux in November means they are vying to complete their first top-flight double against Wolves since 1981-82.
- Wolves won 1-0 at the Amex Stadium last season but have never won back-to-back league games away to Brighton.
Brighton & Hove Albion
- This will be the Seagulls’ first home match since drawing 3-3 with Brentford on 1 April. They have since played four Premier League away fixtures and an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
- Albion are vying for a club record 15th top-flight win of the season. It would give them 52 points, equalling their best tally in the highest division.
- The Sussex club are winless in all nine of their Premier League home games in the month of April (D7, L2), drawing each of the past five.
- Brighton have lost two of their three most recent league matches, as many defeats as in their previous 13 games.
- Facundo Buonanotte, 18, who scored in Wednesday’s defeat by Nottingham Forest, can become the youngest player to score in each of his first two Premier League starts, breaking the record set by Ritchie Humphreys for Sheffield Wednesday in 1996.
- Kaoru Mitoma has netted in six of Brighton’s past nine home matches in all competitions.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Wolves have won three of their past four Premier League games, as many victories as they recorded in their previous 10 attempts (D2, L5).
- Their only two victories in 16 away league fixtures this season were both by a 2-1 scoreline against Everton and Southampton (D5, L9).
- This will be Julen Lopetegui’s 200th top-flight match as a manager, encompassing spells in Portugal, Spain and England.
- Ruben Neves has scored all eight of his Premier League penalties – the only players with perfect records to have converted more are Yaya Toure (11 of 11) and Dimitar Berbatov (nine of nine).
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: David Coote. Assistants: Simon Bennett, Timothy Wood. Fourth official: Thomas Bramall. VAR: Tony Harrington. Assistant VAR: Simon Long.
MATCH INFO
It’s a 3pm kick off on Saturday 29th April at the Amex Stadium. The match is not shown live on UK television.