A clash involving two European hopefuls takes centre stage on Saturday afternoon as Wolves host West Ham United in the Premier League.
Wolves secured a 1-1 draw against relegation-threatened Burnley on Tuesday night to leave them trailing seventh-place West Ham by a point.
The Hammers also registered the same scoreline in midweek after holding Tottenham at the London Stadium, teeing up a clash between two European chasing titans at Molineux.
Gary O’Neil‘s men have felt the effects of their injury woes, with Pedro Neto and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde still working their way back to fitness while Matheus Cunha only managed 14 minutes on Tuesday night.
O’Neil is currently making the best out of a bad situation as a lack of significant investment in the summer and the January transfer window is coming back to bite Wolves.
Without any senior strikers available, the former Bournemouth manager has had to play 18-year-old Leon Chiwome as the figurehead of his attack and count upon fellow teenager Nathan Fraser.
Playing academy stars beyond the levels of experience and quality is far from what O’Neil would have wanted.
However, with Cunha back potentially alongside Hwang-Hee Chan and Craig Dawson, the Englishman is getting the pieces of his Wolves squad back at the perfect time.
Having only beaten West Ham twice in their last seven top-flight meetings, here’s how Wolves could lineup this weekend.
Wolves predicted XI vs West Ham
Wolves could have lost against Burnley in midweek had it not been for goalkeeper Jose Sa, who made several crucial saves. The Portuguese shot-stopper will be looking to shine once more against the Hammers.
An injury to Craig Dawson forced O’Neil to change his formation to a 4-4-1-1, however, with the Englishman potentially fit to play against his former club, he could switch to a three-at-the-back system once more.
Dawson could slot in alongside Man Utd-linked Max Kilman and defensive titan Toti Gomes. If he isn’t fit, Santi Bueno could return to the starting XI.
Reverting to wing-backs means Nelson Semedo will be given extra license to support the attackers, while Matt Doherty could switch to a left wing-back role, meaning Hugo Bueno could be dropped.
In the engine room, Joao Gomes will continue partnering with Mario Lemina. They’ll be responsible for shutting down the Hammers threat centrally and keeping Lucas Paqueta quiet.
That leaves three forward spots, as Leon Chiwome could drop out for the “phenomenal” Matheus Cunha with Pablo Sarabia floating into pockets of space down the right and Rayan Ait-Nouri continuing in his attacking role on the left wing.
Cunha’s return to the starting XI is a huge bonus for O’Neil and hopefully, he can provide the Wanderers with his ruthless quality in attack.