WATCH OUR PREVIEW WOLVES V LEICESTER
TEAM NEWS
Wolves forward Diego Costa is set to feature after recovering from a knock against Brentford. Ruben Neves and Jonny are both available after serving suspensions.
Leicester City winger Harvey Barnes will miss a second match with the hamstring injury sustained during the home defeat against Bournemouth.Jannik Vestergaard is out for the rest of the season due to a calf injury, while Ricardo Pereira, James Justin and Ryan Bertrand remain sidelined.
predicted line up
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JULEN LOPETEGUI
Ruben Neves is “ready to play” with no other new problems as of yet.
On Diego Costa scoring his first goal, he said: “He has been working very hard on the pitch, the bench and sometimes out of the squad. He is always ready.”
Lopetegui says Wolves are “not safe” and they have to “work very hard” to achieve the points required to stay in the Premier League.
On the remaining Premier League games, he said: “This is football and it demands a lot of focus. We have seven finals left. This is the first final – against Leicester. We know the type of game we are going to have there. We have to be ready.”
He mentioned that he is happy with the form of Matheus Nunes but stressed it is “not about one or two matches”.
When asked about the relegation battle, he added: “There is no space to relax. You only achieve your aim when you achieve and not before, that is clear to me.”
On the threat of Leicester, Lopetegui said: “We have to go there with our strengths and our experience, always knowing that we have to respect them a lot. Leicester have a lot of very top players, they are fantastic players.”
MATCH FACTS & STATS
Head-to-head
- Leicester City can complete a league double over Wolves for the first time since 1996, and for the first time in the top flight for 42 years.
- Wolves have won just one of their last 25 away league games at Leicester and have never scored in their five Premier League trips to the Foxes.
Leicester City
- Leicester can equal the club league record of five successive home defeats, set from January to March 1959 in the top flight.
- They have taken only one point from their past nine Premier League games. They have won just two of their last 16 league matches.
- The Foxes have lost 20 Premier League games this season. It is their highest number of defeats in a 38-game season since losing 24 times in 1914-15 in the second tier.
- Leicester are the only side of the 98 in the top five European leagues without a clean sheet following the World Cup.
- Jamie Vardy has scored three goals in his last four Premier League games against Wolves, with Leicester winning all three matches. His only league goal in 30 appearances so far this season was in the Foxes’ 4-0 win in the reverse fixture.
- Dean Smith has won only one of his seven Premier League matches as a manager against Wolves. That was Aston Villa’s 1-0 victory at Molineux in December 2020 via a 94th-minute penalty scored by Anwar El Ghazi.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Wolves have won their last two Premier League games, beating Chelsea 1-0 and Brentford 2-0. They could equal the club Premier League record of three straight wins.
- They have taken 24 points from 16 league fixtures under Julen Lopetegui. Only seven teams have fared better since his arrival.
- Wolves are undefeated in all nine Premier League matches when taking the lead under Lopetegui.
- They are one short of 100 Premier League wins.
- Eight of Wolves’ nine Premier League clean sheets this season have come at home.
- Wolves have scored seven of their 18 Premier League goals under Lopetegui by substitutes. Only Brighton, with eight, have scored more.
- Diego Costa scored his first goal for Wolves on his 19th appearance against Brentford last weekend. It was his first Premier League goal in five years and 342 days.
- Raul Jimenez has failed to score in his last 21 Premier League games since netting against Watford in March last season.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Andy Madley. Assistants: Simon Long, Richard West. Fourth official: David Coote. VAR: Chris Kavanagh. Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton.
MATCH info
Kick off is 3pm on Saturday 22nd April at the King Power Stadium, this one will not be shown live on tv in the UK.