Wolves welcome Chelsea to Molineux on Christmas Eve in what promises to be an exciting Premier League tie.
Wolves will be looking to bounce back from what was a shambolic display against West Ham last Sunday. Gary O’Neil’s side were swept aside in a 3-0 defeat which was the poorest display of the campaign to date.
The defeat will have left O’Neil with some huge changes to make – if he is to return to winning ways against Chelsea this Sunday. It was a defeat that left much of the Wolves squad disappointed – particularly Craig Dawson.
The Hammers’ attacking talent was troubling the Wolves backline with Toti Gomes, in particular having a bad day.
But against Chelsea, Wolves will meet an opponent who is equally as inconsistent – however, Mauricio Pochettinho has recently seen an uptake in form with three wins on the bounce.
Now, ahead of Sunday’s game – Paul Merson has shared his verdict on the result between the two sides.
Paul Merson predicts Wolves v Chelsea
Writing in his weekly SportsKeeda predictions column, Merson suggested a high-scoring draw could be on the cards this Sunday.
“I thought Wolves were poor last weekend against West Ham. That’s the worst they’ve looked all season.
“You never know what you’re going to get with Chelsea. It’s rather unfortunate that one of their best players, Reece James, is now sidelined for a long time again. It’s a bit of an issue at this point. He seems to rushing himself back because he clearly loves playing football.
“But with these injuries, one has to be patient. I feel for the guy, he is a very good footballer too. But he’s got to show some patience if he is to avoid these constant injury problems.
“Despite Chelsea’s morale-boosting performance against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup, I am going for a draw in this one as Chelsea are still suspect defensively.”
Merson then finally concluded by adding his scoreline prediction of 2-2.
Wolves will be boosted by huge return
Pedro Neto made his long-awaited return to full training this week ahead of the Chelsea fixture. His absence has been a huge miss for Wolves given the immense form he was in this season – managing seven assists in just 10 Premier League games.
Although back in training – it’s unclear whether he will make an appearance this weekend – however, O’Neil has hinted that he will get some minutes.
The photos which showed Neto in training were the best early Christmas present many Wolves fans could ask for.
Along with Neto – Joe Hodge has also returned to training and he will be hoping to make a real challenge on the first team in the new year.