Wolves face off with Brighton and Hove Albion in a Premier League meeting on Saturday afternoon.
Wolves have had a pretty dismal start to the 2024/25 season and currently sit 20th in the Premier League table.
Gary O’Neil’s side are one of just four teams still yet to secure three points in their opening eight fixtures of the current campaign along with two of the three recently promoted sides – Ipswich Town and Southampton.
Last time out, The Wanderers battled hard but eventually came up short, losing 2-1 to Manchester City at Molineux Stadium.
Given their form, every game is tough this season but Brighton and Hove Albion are expected to prove a particularly tough test as they are fifth in the division going into the weekend and have lost just once all season.
Paul Merson predicts Wolves will lose to Brighton by a scoreline of 3-1 and made a ‘nightmare’ claim.
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Wolves team news ahead of Brighton and Hove Albion
Wolves have quite a few injury issues to deal with going into the weekend’s meeting with the Seagulls.
Hwang Hee-chan was injured on international duty with South Korea earlier this month and O’Neil has confirmed Hwang will be out for three to four weeks.
Yerson Mosquera is sidelined for the entire campaign after injuring his ACL and MCL, with Enso Gonzalez Medina another long-term absentee.
Elsewhere, striker Sasa Kalajdzic is out of action until early 2025, Boubacar Traore is unlikely to return to the field until late December.
On a more positive note though, goalkeeper Sam Johnstone trained with Wolves this week after his injury and could be back fit for the Brighton meeting.
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Wolves predicted XI vs Brighton
The main talking point ahead of Saturday’s game is who will start between the sticks for O’Neil’s side.
Jose Sa had been a mainstay in the Midlands for some time but the arrival of Johnstone saw the Portuguese lose his place in the starting line-up.
Johnstone’s injury allowed Sa a way back into the eleven last time out but the latter is likely to be dropped this weekend.
O’Neil has been told he has ‘underappreciated’ Sa this season but with Johnstone his number one, he will most likely return against Brighton if fit enough, which he looks to be.
The remainder of the eleven is expected to look largely similar to the one that lost to Manchester City as though they failed to secure any points, Wolves were unlucky not to come away with anything against the Premier League champions.
There could, however, be a rare start for Tommy Doyle after he shone off the bench last time out.
Wolves (3-4-3): Sa; Dawson, Bueno, Toti; Semedo, Andre, Doyle, Ait-Nouri; Forbs, Cunha, Strand Larsen.