Wolves arguably couldn’t have asked for a worse match to play at the moment as they welcome Liverpool to Molineux.
It’s been an incredibly difficult start to the season for Gary O’Neil and Wolves, who have collected just a single point from their first five games and sit bottom of the Premier League table.
The Old Gold have looked impressive in spells but failure to kill off games has come back to bite them, with Newcastle and Aston Villa both coming from behind to win.
Wolves can ill-afford to show their opponents any respect in this match as they could run away with all three points, especially if Mohamed Salah is on song.
Liverpool have won four of their five matches this term, conceding just once and have been backed by the majority to continue their fine start.
Paul Merson and Chris Sutton both think Liverpool will beat Wolves and that is hardly surprising given both team’s contrast in fortunes.
Wolves team news ahead of Liverpool
O’Neil has been hit with somewhat of an injury crisis as he prepares to face the title challengers, with illness sweeping the Wolves squad.
Wolves were devastated to find out that Yerson Mosquera would miss the rest of the 2024/25 campaign after injuring his MCL and ACL in the Aston Villa loss.
The Wolves boss also revealed that Toti Gomes is a doubt for this clash. After being unavailable due to a minor hamstring issue, O’Neil claims the Portuguese defender isn’t fully fit and in an ‘ideal world’ would leave him longer.
That could open up the door for 20-year-old Alfie Pond to make his Premier League debut against Liverpool.
The final two absentees for the OId Gold are Dan Bentley, who was one player struck down with illness, and Boubacar Traore who continues to recover from a knee injury.
Wolves predicted XI vs Liverpool
Sam Johnstone has stolen the number one jersey from Jose Sa in the early stages of his Wolves career, and the Englishman should start in this match.
The experienced shot-stopper will expect to be barraged by shots, backed by a defence of Nelson Semedo, Craig Dawson, Santi Bueno and Rayan Ait-Nouri.
O’Neil’s injury update on Toti means he’s unlikely to start in this clash, replacing him with the ‘quality’ Bueno, as the manager perhaps sticks with a back four.
Wolves have started with a midfield three of Mario Lemina, Andre and Joao Gomes recently, and that is unlikely to change here, as the trio aim to shut down Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.
That leaves a front three of Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Matheus Cunha and Jorgen Strand Larsen, who looked promising in the loss to Villa.
Wolves (4-3-3): Johnstone; Semedo, Dawson, Bueno, Ait-Nouri; Andre, Lemina, Gomes; Bellegarde, Cunha, Larsen.