WATCH FOR OUR THOUGHTS AHEAD OF WOLVES V IPSWICH
TEAM NEWS
Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes is unavailable after receiving his fifth yellow card during Monday’s loss to West Ham. Yerson Mosquera, Enso Gonzalez, Sasa Kalajdzic, and Boubacar Traore remain sidelined. Jose Sa and Pablo Sarabia will not be ready to return to the squad for this one.
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna confirmed on Thursday that illness has affected several players this week.
Kalvin Phillips and Ben Johnson are still dealing with minor injuries, while Axel Tuanzebe, George Hirst, and Chiedozie Ogbene remain out of action.
GARY O'NEIL
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Mario Lemina has been replaced as captain by Nelson Semedo following discussions between O’Neil, Lemina and senior players earlier this week. O’Neil said: “Sometimes these things can be tough to deal with and sometimes you can come out of them in a good spot, and I feel like we have. I have a lot of respect for Mario. When we get the best out of him on the pitch, his level is so high that he’s still going to play a very big part for us, which he’s still extremely keen to do.”
O’Neil said of the incidents involving Lemina after full-time at West Ham on Monday: “What happened after the game can’t happen. We all understand that emotions can rise, that we’re in a tough moment and everyone’s fighting and giving everything under big stress and pressure. But they’re scenes we won’t see again, definitely.”
O’Neil has been publicly backed by chairman Jeff Shi following speculation over his position: “I’ve always been in contact with Matt [Hobbs, sporting director] and Jeff, and the situation we’ve been in, everyone here is aware of. If I’d been put into a situation where we were free-spending, I was cherry-picking Premier League players and we’d won three games in whatever it is, I’d have lost my job a while ago. But the situation we’re in is very different to that.”
He continued: “I understand the importance of results and we’re working hard to improve them. Of course we need to do better – nobody wants to be on nine points after 15 games – but there have been good conversations with Matt and Jeff about what we do now, what we do with January approaching and the direction that we try to push the club in.”
On whether lessons have been learned about the club’s transfer strategy heading into the January window: “January will be very different. Whether that’s a lesson learned or it’s just an adjustment, these things always evolve. But my focus is on this group and how much we can get out of them. I’m excited to get them going again for tomorrow and I’m excited for this group to prove everybody wrong and change the situation.”
Jose Sa and Pablo Sarabia remain out with injury for the visit of Ipswich, while Joao Gomes is suspended.
MATCH STATS & FACTS
Head-to-head
This is the 939th different fixture to be played in the Premier League.
Ipswich Town have won eight of their last 10 top-flight games versus Wolves, most recently triumphing 3-0 at Molineux in April 1984.
The Tractor Boys have won only one of the last 17 away matches at Wolves in all competitions, a 2-0 victory in the second tier in December 2012.
The most recent meeting was in the League Cup third round in September 2023. Ipswich came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Portman Road.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves have lost 10 of their opening 15 league matches in a season for the first time since 1985 in the third tier, and for the first time in the top flight since 1983. Both of those campaigns ended in relegation.
Gary O’Neil’s side have suffered a club record-equalling 20 Premier League defeats in 2024, five more than any other club.
They have lost nine of their past 12 league fixtures at Molineux, although O’Neil has won all four home games against promoted opposition as Wolves boss.
Wolves’ tally of 38 Premier League goals conceded this season is seven more than any other club.
They have let in an unrivalled 19 goals from set-pieces, already one more than in the entirety of last season.
Matheus Cunha is joint third alongside Ruben Neves among Wolves’ leading Premier League scorers on 21 goals. However, only six of Cunha’s goals have come at Molineux.
Jorgen Strand Larsen has scored five goals in seven Premier League home appearances for Wolves, although he is yet to end on the winning side in any home game in which he’s scored.
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town and Wolves are 18th and 19th respectively in the Premier League table, both on nine points after 15 games. The fewest points a team has had after 16 matches and avoided relegation is nine: Coventry City in 1995-96, Wigan Athletic in 2007-08, Sunderland in 2013-14 and Southampton in 2018-19.
Ipswich have won just one of their 15 Premier League fixtures, away to Spurs on 10 November.
They have lost their last three league games by a single-goal margin. The Tractor Boys can lose four successive league matches for the first time since February to March 2020 in the third tier under Paul Lambert.
Ipswich have dropped 15 points from a winning position, a joint-league high alongside Fulham. Kieran McKenna’s side have lost three matches after scoring first, second only to Brentford’s four.
They have scored a league-low four second-half goals, while Wolves have conceded an unrivalled 21 times after half-time.
Liam Delap has scored six and set up one of Ipswich’s 14 league goals but he’s failed to register a goal involvement in his last four Premier League games.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Simon Hooper. Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Simon Long. Fourth official: Leigh Doughty. VAR: Darren England. Assistant VAR: Akil Howson.
MATCH INFO
This one is a 3pm kick off and Molineux and Wolves will celebrate the 70th anniversary of Wolves v Honved