Wolves clinched an impressive comeback win over Ipswich Town on Saturday as Vitor Pereira’s men effectively sealed their place in the top flight for another campaign.
Jorgen Strand Larsen’s late winner at Portman Road pulled the Old Gold 12 points clear of the relegation zone with just seven matches remaining.
Vitor Pereira has done an excellent job since becoming manager, as he arrived at Molineux in December with the Wanderers four points adrift of safety.
The Portuguese has been noticed for the work he’s done by those outside of the club, too, with Jamie Carragher lauding Pereira as ‘superb’.
But while credit continues to pour down on the 56-year-old, Wolves have been helped in their battle to avoid relegation due to one key reason.
Ian Wright and Roy Keane always knew Wolves would survive
Achieving the 40-point mark is usually the magic number to avoid relegation. But that doesn’t apply to those sides at the bottom this term, as the current bottom three are criminally bad.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 14 |  TottenhamTottenham | 31 | 11 | 4 | 16 | 58 | 45 | 13 | 37 |
| 15 |  EvertonEverton | 31 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 33 | 38 | -5 | 35 |
| 16 |  West HamWest Ham | 31 | 9 | 8 | 14 | 35 | 52 | -17 | 35 |
| 17 |  WolvesWolves | 31 | 9 | 5 | 17 | 43 | 59 | -16 | 32 |
| 18 |  IpswichIpswich | 31 | 4 | 8 | 19 | 31 | 65 | -34 | 20 |
| 19 |  LeicesterLeicester | 31 | 4 | 5 | 22 | 25 | 70 | -45 | 17 |
| 20 |  SouthamptonSouthampton | 31 | 2 | 4 | 25 | 23 | 74 | -51 | 10 |
Ipswich occupy the final relegation place and they’ve only amassed 20 points this term while Leicester and Southampton are on 17 and 10 respectively.
The sides that came up from the Championship last term are set to go down as the worst bottom three in Premier League history, and that explains why Wolves chances of avoiding relegation were never in doubt.
Speaking on the Stick To Football podcast, Ian Wright and Roy Keane both agreed that Wolves were never in danger of going down.
“Wolves have been so bad this season,” Wright said. “They’ve got nothing to worry about. It’s almost like being able to, yeah, the players don’t need to really go hard. What’s happening with that?”
Keane replied: “Wolves win at Ipswich at the weekend, and Wolves, all the players are all crying and celebrating. You’re going, did you really think you would get relegated, Wolves?
“You didn’t really think you were going to drag in with the other three teams who are really poor, struggling. And obviously, that can happen.”
In many ways, Wolves are lucky that those sides at the bottom aren’t good enough to compete, but Pereira’s arrival was the catalyst for survival.
How Wolves can push on in 2025/26
Wolves have flirted with the idea of relegation in recent years but as the gap between the Championship and Premier League becomes bigger, their chances of dropping into the second tier decrease dramatically.
In the 2025/26 campaign, however, the Old Gold have to aim to finish higher in the table, pulling themselves away from danger and pushing towards the top half.
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Pereira, who could sign a new contract at Wolves before the end of the year, is the right man to lead the Wanderers to success but he also needs backing in the transfer window.
Fosun operates with a self-sustaining model, predominantly using the cash from player sales to sign talent, and that is expected to be the case this summer.
However, they need to acknowledge that Pereira deserves investment into his squad after doing a fantastic job and that means dipping into their pockets.
Wolves are already eyeing a new number 10 ahead of the summer but they must also replace Matheus Cunha correctly and bolster other areas of their squad. Then, the prospect of climbing up the table is realistic.