Wolves will welcome Graham Potter and West Ham United to Molineux after a lengthy international break for the club.
Thanks to a combination of March international fixtures and the FA Cup quarter-final weekend, Vitor Pereira’s men haven’t played a single game since their crucial 2-1 win over Southampton on March 15.
That win helped the Old Gold all-but secure their place in the Premier League for another season, with a supercomputer predicting that Wolves don’t need to bag a single point in their remaining games to stay up.
Wolves fans will most certainly sleep a bit better if they do win a few more games before the end of the 2024/25 campaign, and they’ll be hoping the first of said wins comes against a resurgent West Ham on Tuesday evening.
Pereira’s men are looking to prevent the Hammers winning consecutive league games at Molineux for the first times since a run of three on the spin between 1920 and 1922.
Here’s the team Wolves will likely line up to prevent that from happening.
Wolves team news vs West Ham
The big news is that Matheus Cunha is set to serve the second-to-last game of his suspension against West Ham, after receiving a four-match ban and an £80,000 fine for violent conduct in the FA Cup defeat to Bournemouth.
Cunha is set to be back in contention for the Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur on April 13 at Molineux. Although not able to feature for Wolves for a while, the forward has continued his fine form on the international stage, scoring for Brazil against Argentina recently.
Along with Cunha, long-term absentees Enso Gonzalez, Leon Chiwome, Sasa Kalajdzic and Yerson Mosquera will expectedly be unavailable for selection to Pereira.
Vitor Pereira to name unchanged XI once again
Despite Cunha’s absence, Pereira won’t be too concerned about his attacking options given the brilliant performances of both Jorgen Strand Larsen and Premier League Player of the Month nominee Jean-Ricner Bellegarde in the win over Southampton.
And at the other end of the park, expect the Wolves manager to stick with the backline that has served him well in recent weeks, especially Matt Doherty scored for the Republic of Ireland in the international break.
Molineux News is predicting that Vitor Pereira will name an unchanged team for the third consecutive Premier League games – the first time he’s done so in his Wolves’ reign.
Wolves predicted line-up vs West Ham
GK: Jose Sa – The Portugal goalkeeper was in the midst of a spell at the club’s second choice behind Sam Johnstone the last time they played West Ham – a game which ended in defeat at the London Stadium. Since Pereira has taken over at Molineux, Sa is back in the lineup and has re-found his best form.
CB: Matt Doherty – The 33-year-old is set to continue to keep January signing Nasser Djiga out of the starting lineup. He’s thoroughly impressed at centre-back in recent times.
CB: Emmanuel Agbadou – Having returned from injury at the start of March, Pereira’s first signing at Wolves has continued to be a revelation at the heart of the back three. He’ll be a huge player for the club next season.
CB: Toti Gomes – No defender in the Premier League is better at dispossessing dribblers than Toti Gomes. His one-v-one defensive abilities will be crucial against Mohammed Kudus – the player with the second most completed take-ons in the division.
RWB: Nelson Semedo – Rumours continue to swirl about the club captain’s future, with Benfica now looking a likely destination for Semedo if his contract winds down. Until then, expect Semedo to be a key player for Pereira.
CM: Joao Gomes – One half of Pereira’s dynamic Brazilian midfield, Joao Gomes is a fan favourite at Molineux.
CM: Andre – The summer signing has really come into his own since Pereira replaced Gary O’Neil, as the fact that he recently admitted that things have been ‘a lot easier’ since the managerial change attests. Andre set a season-high for winning possession 11 times against Everton in the middle of the park recently.
LWB: Rayan Ait-Nouri – Like Semedo, Ait-Nouri has been the subject of plenty of transfer speculation in recent times. No Wolves player has accumulated more minutes than the wing-back this season.
RAM: Marshall Munetsi – Having recently netted his first goal for the club in the draw with Everton, fans are expecting a few goals from Munetsi before the end of the 2024/25 campaign.
LAM: Jean-Ricner Bellegarde – Wolves haven’t missed Cunah in recent weeks and that’s largely been thanks to the form of Bellegarde. The Haitian attacker was one of the best players in the Premier League in March.
ST: Jorgen Strand Larsen – The forward ended a seven-game goal drought in the league before the international break with a brace vs. Southampton. Something similar would be welcomed by Wolves fans in midweek.