Paul Merson issues bold relegation claim as he predicts the result of Fulham vs Wolves

Premier League football returns this weekend as Gary O’Neil’s Wolves travel to high-flyers Fulham on Saturday afternoon.

Wolves will be eyeing this fixture as a chance to build on their 2-0 victory over Southampton before the break, which lifted them off the bottom.

Gary O’Neil is still under pressure from the fans, despite recording his first win of the season, and building on that result looks a difficult ask.

O’Neil could be without centre-back Santi Bueno, who suffered a groin injury on national duty and withdrew from the Uruguay squad as a result.

With Fulham sitting in seventh position, one point shy of the Champions League places, this promises to be a difficult clash and former Arsenal forward Paul Merson agrees.

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Paul Merson predicts the result of Fulham vs Wolves

Coming away with three points from Craven Cottage would be a huge boost to their survival hopes but Merson thinks Fulham will be too strong for the visitors.

The 56-year-old claims that if the Wanderers are only six points above the bottom three at Christmas, they will be relegated to the Championship, and that is a bold statement to make.

In his column for Sportskeeda, Merson predicted a 2-0 win for Fulham: “Wolves got a massive result before the international break when they beat Southampton. But this is a really difficult game for them against Fulham.

“After this game at Craven Cottage, they face Bournemouth, Everton, West Ham, Ipswich Town and Leicester. Gary O’Neill has to look at those fixtures and believe they can put on a bit of a run.

“If Wolves are not six points clear of the relegation zone by the end of December, they will get relegated!”

Merson emphasised the run of fixtures before Christmas as an opportunity to piece some wins together, and failure to do so could get O’Neil the sack.

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Wolves head-to-head record vs Fulham

For the visitors to secure a vital victory, or take at least a point back to Wolverhampton, they’ll need to execute the counter-attack to perfection and deal with Marco Silva’s danger men.

Adama Traore poses a huge threat to Toti Gomes, who will need to be at his best to stop the Spaniard, while Carlos Forbs could cause Fulham problems at the other end.

The hosts, of course, arrive into this fixture in much better form after securing back-to-back wins against Brentford and Crystal Palace.

But, the head-to-head record between the two sides sees Wolves come out on top against their opponents, winning four of the last seven meetings.

Wolves last secured a 2-1 victory over Fulham at Molineux in March thanks to a Rayan Ait-Nouri strike and a Tom Cairney own goal, with O’Neil hoping for more of the same on Saturday.