WATCH OUR PREVIEW TO FIND OUT OU SCORE PREDICTIONS AND THOUGHTS AHEAD OF THE MATCH
TEAM NEWS
Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Gary O’Neil reports no fresh fitness concerns prior to Chelsea’s visit. However, Nelson Semedo is sidelined due to suspension, while Leon Chiwome, Sasa Kalajdzic, and Enso Gonzalez remain long-term absentees.
Chelsea’s Joao Felix is available for selection, but head coach Enzo Maresca has not yet decided if the Portuguese player will start. Meanwhile, Reece James is serving the third match of his four-game suspension after last season’s red card.
GARY O'NEIL
O’Neil stressed that the transfer window is more about finding players that fit “football-wise and financially” than anything else. He said: “I’ve obviously seen some of the noise. I do try to stay away from the noise when I can. There’s not really a financial limit, it is more ‘are players valuations right?’ We can do stuff definitely between now and the end of the window, it just needs to fit for the team and the football club.”
He added: “Some of the figures and things you’ll hear banded around, I have not heard any figure in any of my meetings or discussions. It’s more ‘can we find things that fit football-wise and financially’ than a set budget.”
On team news: “No [new issues], we’re fine. Matheus Cunha is fine so he’ll be able for more minutes. Boubacar Traore has done an extra week’s training so he’s in a better spot. Everybody else is ok I think, so we are as we were.”
He was asked if the job feels different now, compared to when he was appointed 12 months ago: “I still feel like we’re running. We’re running as hard as we can to push forward. I’m exactly as driven as I was the day I walked in and the group is the same, there’s a real hunger within the group.”
On how difficult it could be, as a coach, to deal with 40-plus players like Enzo Maresca at Chelsea, O’Neil said: “I’m not sure how many he’s dealing with day to day but you can see Chelsea Football Club are still in a transition and they are still trying to sort a few bits out. That doesn’t mean they can’t be successful whilst they are in that transition. The amount of talent they have, they have a top coach as well so they still have every right and chance of finishing very high up the league. Of course there are things that go on behind that can have an impact.”
MATCH STATS & FACTS
Head-to-head
Wolverhampton Wanderers have won the past three Premier League meetings, as many as they had in their previous 17 attempts (D4, L10).
Chelsea are without an away win in four league games against Wolves since a 5-2 victory in September 2019 under Frank Lampard (D1, L3).
The Blues’ last win over Wolves came at Stamford Bridge in October 2022 through goals from Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Armando Broja.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves have lost four successive Premier League games for the first time since a run of six from May to August 2021.
They have only won one of their last 12 competitive matches in all competitions since a 2-1 top-flight home victory against Luton in April (D2, L9)
There was no Englishman in Wolves’ starting line-up against Arsenal, the first time that has been the case in a Premier League fixture.
Rayan Ait-Nouri, at 23 years and 80 days, can become the youngest player to make 100 Premier League appearances for Wolves, a record which currently belongs to now-Chelsea player Pedro Neto.
Chelsea
Chelsea can lose their opening two games of a league season for the first time since 1973-74.
Enzo Maresca can become the first Chelsea manager to lose his first two top-flight fixtures in charge of the club since Gianluca Vialli lost the first three in 1998 (not including second spells as manager).
The Blues have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 18 away games in all competitions since a 2-0 Premier League win at Fulham last October.
A goal for Pedro Neto would make him just the fourth player to net a Premier League goal for and against Wolves, after Stephen Hunt, Diogo Jota and Morgan Gibbs-White.
HEAD TO HEAD
LAST 6 MATCHES
19th December 2021 Wolves 0 Chelsea 0 at Molineux
7th May 2021 Chelsea 2 Wolves 2 at Stamford Bridge
8th October 2022 Chelsea 3 Wolves 0 at Stamford Bridge
8th April 2023 Wolves 1 Chelsea 0 at Molineux
24th December 2023 Wolves 2 Chelsea 1 at Molineux
4th February 2024 Chelsea 2 Wolves 4 at Stamford Bridge
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Darren England. Assistants: Nick Greenhalgh, Constantine Hatzidakis. Fourth official: Rob Jones. VAR: John Brooks. Assistant VAR: Gary Beswick.
MATCH INFO
Match takes place on Sunday 25th August at 2pm at Molineux. This fixture is not shown live on TV in the UK.