Wolves man Rayan Aït-Nouri missed out last week against West Ham, but he needs to play against Chelsea.
Wolves will be in the spotlight on Christmas Eve as they take on Chelsea at Molineux on Christmas Eve.
Gary O’Neil’s men will be looking to bounce back from a heavy 3-0 defeat against West Ham last weekend.
One man who struggled badly against The Hammers is Toti Gomes – as he struggled to keep up with the brilliant Mohammed Kudus.
So that’s why, against Chelsea he needs to be back in central defence while 22-year-old Rayan Aït-Nouri returns to the line-up.
Rayan Aït-Nouri needs to start vs Chelsea
Wolves’ ‘phenomenal‘ Algerian full-back who cost £9.8m had been in top class form this season before his recent injury – which he has since returned from in a cameo appearance against West Ham – with his performance against Spurs the best of the lot.
But on Christmas Eve, he must start in his usual wing back position for a number of reasons.
Ait-Nouri’s return to the starting line-up would allow Gary O’Neil to return to his best system which includes Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo as all dominating wing-backs.
This in turn then allows Gomes to revert into the back three where he has been so good this season.
This change is the only one O’Neil should make and the only we’ve made in our predicted line-up.
Ait-Nouri stats for Wolves this season
Ait-Nouri’s season for Wolves has been excellent thus far and he’s even attracted interest from Chelsea among other clubs.
His stats explain why that interest is there as he continues to impress as per SofaScore. The full back has had some severe lows but also some incredible highs.
His biggest high was a 7.9 rating against Spurs in November where he was a huge player and played a big part in helping Wolves win the game. Here, he made 79-touches while boasting a 91% passing accuracy which saw him make four key passes.
He won a miraculous 11 duels and completed five dribbles as he dominated the left-side.
If Ait-Nouri can put in a performance like this against Spurs, he could be the key man for O’Neil.