Wolves suffered their 17th defeat of the season against Fulham. The Old Gold remain in contention to be relegated at the end of the season.
Wolves were beaten 2-1 by Fulham at Molineux on Tuesday evening — a disappointing result given the two side’s recent form. The scoreline has kept the Old Gold just above the drop zone.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 15 |  Man UtdManchester United | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 30 | 37 | -7 | 30 |
| 16 |  West HamWest Ham | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 30 | 47 | -17 | 30 |
| 17 |  WolvesWolves | 27 | 6 | 4 | 17 | 37 | 56 | -19 | 22 |
| 18 |  IpswichIpswich | 26 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 24 | 54 | -30 | 17 |
| 19 |  LeicesterLeicester | 26 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 25 | 59 | -34 | 17 |
And although Wolves were far from at their best, individually, and as a collective, club expert Liam Keen has urged Vitor Pereira to ensure one player is one of the first names on his team sheet.
Liam Keen says Jean-Ricner Bellegarde should be first name on Wolves team sheet
Wolves’ starting lineup against Fulham saw Jean-Ricner Bellegarde handed his 13th Premier League start of the season.
The Frenchman has been a standout performer under Pereira, and, were it not for Matheus Cunha’s impressive campaign, would be in with a shout to win Wolves’ ‘Player of the Season’ award.
“Considering injuries, considering form, it’s a very simple answer: yes, I think he [Bellegarde] has to play at the moment,” he said on the Keen and Judah podcast.
“You’ve got Hwang [hee-Chan], you’ve got Rodrigo Gomes, you’ve got [Goncalo] Guedes of the attacking players, there’s obviously [Emmanuel] Agbadou as well, that are injured and out at the moment and with those players missing you’re other options are [Pablo] Sarabia, and Bellegarde is in form, whether that is centrally or out wide.”
A strong case, and one that is tough to disagree with when Bellegarde has contributed with a goal and an assist in his last four outings.
Mistake leaving Marshall Munetsi on against Fulham
Bellegarde lasted 65 minutes against Marco Silva’s side before being substituted for Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Keen thinks this was a major tactical error from Pereira, though…
“I’ve got no idea why he came off. I think that’s an error, in my opinion, from Vitor Pereira. I think he should have stayed on,” he added.
Despite being signed as a box-to-box midfielder, Marshall Munetsi, to combat the side’s struggles with injuries, has started the last two matches in an advanced role, but Keen feels the Ivorian was ineffective at Craven Cottage and should’ve been the one to make way.
He said: “[Marshall] Munetsti, who we’ve both been big fans of and been quite excited by over the last few weeks, I don’t think he was doing anywhere near enough. I think he had to be taken off.”
Munetsi had a miserable match, and while no Wolves player really stood out, it’s hard to argue that Bellegarde didn’t deserve to stay on for longer.
Perhaps Pereira won’t make the same decision next time out.