WATCH FOR OUR THOUGHTS AHEAD OF WOLVES V BRIGHTON AT MOLINEUX
TEAM NEWS
Wolves expect Jorgen Strand Larsen back after he missed their loss to Manchester City with a groin injury. Sam Johnstone, Sasa Kalajdzic, and Yerson Mosquera are still out.
Kaoru Mitoma is fit again for Brighton after missing the draw with Newcastle because of a sore heel. Solly March won’t play again this season after knee surgery. Ferdi Kadioglu, James Milner, and Georginio Rutter are also still unavailable. Joao Pedro will miss one more match as he finishes his three-game suspension.
VITOR PEREIRA
Pereira said that he will face a “late decision” over the fitness of forwards Hwang Hee-chan and Jorgen Strand Larsen, but that the rest of the squad is available for selection.
When asked about Hwang’s lack of minutes: “We don’t play with two strikers and [Jorgen Strand] Larsen is scoring [goals]. Until now I didn’t have space for him and this is football.”
On ending the season on a high: “For us the next three games will be a challenge. [We need to] compete with three teams that are consistent at playing good football and we need to understand and realise what level we are at so in the future we can compete with them [higher up the table].”
On giving youth team players minutes: “Football is not about gifts, it’s about earning the right to play and I like to be honest with the players and with myself. I will select the players that are in [the right] conditions to compete and win the games and we will reward the players that deserve it.”
He added: “I will not use the last games just to put players on the pitch, you have to work to earn your position.”
On Brighton: “We are facing a team with quality all over the pitch and the players have been together for a long time under [lots of] good managers. We have to be organised.”
MATCH STATS & FACTS
Head-to-head
Brighton have won on their past three league visits to Molineux and are unbeaten in six top-flight games against Wolves (W4, D2), scoring 18 goals.
Wolves’ only victory in the eight most recent meetings in all competitions came at home in the FA Cup fifth round last season.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves’ run of three successive home league wins is as many as they managed in their previous 15 outings at Molineux (D2, L10).
The Black Country side’s tally of 51 league goals this season is their joint-most in a Premier League campaign, along with 2019-20. They last scored more in the top flight back in 1979-80, ending with 58 goals.
Wolves have earned 32 points under Vitor Pereira; in the same period, the bottom three have won just 23 points combined.
Rayan Ait-Nouri has been directly involved in 11 goals, scoring four and providing seven assists, the most of any top-flight defender this season. He’s the only Wolves defender to have been involved in 10 or more goals in a Premier League season.
Matheus Cunha’s 15 goals and six assists is the second highest amount of goal involvements by a Wolves player in a Premier League season behind Raul Jimenez’s 23 in 2019-20.
Jorgen Strand Larsen has scored six times in his last six league appearances, with four of those the winning goal.
Brighton & Hove Albion
They have managed just one victory in eight games in all competitions, directly following a run of six straight wins.
The Seagulls could lose three successive away league matches for the first time since May 2021.
They have kept just one clean sheet in their past 11 competitive fixtures.
Only Southampton have conceded more goals in the 89th minute or later in the Premier League this season than Brighton’s eight.
The Seagulls have had 16 different goalscorers in the Premier League this season, the most of any team and their highest ever figure in the division.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Michael Oliver. Assistants: Stuart Burt, James Mainwaring. Fourth official: Thomas Bramall. VAR: James Bell. Assistant VAR: Marc Perry.
MATCH INFO
This one is a 3pm kick off at Molineux on Saturday 10th May.