Wolves are back in Premier League action on Monday night as they travel to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Last time out, Wolves secured their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup after beating Brentford 3-2 in extra-time.
Now, the Wanderers will turn their attention back to the Premier League as they look to continue their assault towards Europe.
Gary O’Neil’s side are currently three points behind eighth-place Brighton and can leapfrog the Seagulls with victory, though that won’t be an easy task.
Wolves have tasted defeat in each of their last four matches against the South Coast club and were on the receiving end of a 6-0 hammering the last time they travelled to the Amex.
Wanderers do enter the contest with the confidence of gleaning a positive result, especially after O’Neil confirmed Mario Lemina is back in contention to start.
Here is how we think Wolves will line up against Brighton…
Predicted Wolves XI to face Brighton – Pedro Neto and Craig Dawson to start
Many expected O’Neil to drop Jose Sa for Dan Bentley against Brentford in the FA Cup, but the Portuguese kept his starting spot and will continue that trend at the Amex.
The defence will likely revert to the one that beat Everton 3-0 in the Premier League. Max Kilman, who is ever-present in their back line, will likely start alongside Toti Gomes while O’Neil could throw Craig Dawson back into the team.
Dawson was left out of Tuesday’s clash but has only missed two top-flight matches this term and one of those was due to a yellow card suspension.
Nelson Semedo has been class for the Wanderers this term and he’ll start in his usual spot at right-wing back while Matt Doherty will continue to cover for left-wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri, who is on AFCON duty with Algeria.
Ait-Nouri isn’t the only player whom Wolves will be without. After picking up a red card against Brentford, Joao Gomes is serving the second game of his three-match suspension, which means Joe Hodge and Tommy Doyle will carry on their partnership in the engine room.
Although Lemina is back in contention after returning from his time off, we don’t expect O’Neil to throw him straight back into the starting XI.
On the right, Jean Ricner-Bellegarde could continue his place in the team after impressing against the Bees.
Pedro Neto, on the other hand, has made a few substitute appearances since returning from injury and the £50k-a-week star may be ready to take his place on the left, replacing Pablo Sarabia.
Matheus Cunha will likely get the nod through the middle given Hwang Hee-Chan is on Asia Cup duty with South Korea.
Wolves (3-4-3): Sa, Kilman, Toti, Dawson, Semedo, Docherty, Hodge, Doyle, Ricner-Bellegarde, Neto, Cunha