WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS VS. CHELSEA, SATURDAY 16:00 

Wolves play host to Chelsea on Saturday afternoon at the Molineux, looking to end their winless start to the new Premier League campaign, having drawn 3 times and lost once before the international break. Chelsea has also endured are relatively slow start to the season, with the Blues just registering 5 points from their first 4 matches. There is still a lot of optimism with Wolves fans, as the team qualified for Europe after a very long absence, but Nuno will need to prepare his squad for the physical and mental challenges they face when competing in 2 competitions at the same time. Chelsea has more experience, but they also face the challenge of playing in Europe next week, followed by a big game vs Liverpool. Lampard will need to start getting results to take away the pressure.

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS:

There has been no sign of fatigue to start the season, but Wolves are preparing for a challenging few weeks and they need to steer away from the relegation zone. The pundits have already reffered to Wolves start as 2nd season syndrome, even though Nuno’s side is yet to adjust to their schedule. Last season they were the least rotated team, but this will defiantly change for the Europa League. There is a feeling around the club that they can go deep into the European competition and hopefully it won’t cause their Premier League form to suffer. When we look at their expected goals stats: xGf – 1.22 and xGa: 1.28, it shows that their games have been more even and why they have drawn 3 times so far. Boly will be unavailable this weekend because of his suspension, Jiminez might be a game time decision as he still played in the early hours of Wednesday morning for Mexico in the USA. Traore is still expected to play wing back, as Doherty is still out with injury

CHELSEA:

Everyone at Chelsea may feel that they are not on pace so far this season, and Lampard will realise this is his most important week coming up as Chelsea manager. With Chelsea being unable to sign players because of the transfer ban, Lampard has looked to the young players and they have been really impressive. The Blues will need to improve defensively, and can’t afford to be in a shootout every week to get all 3 points, hopefully they can settle at the back with key players coming back from injury. Chelsea has been really entertaining to watch so far, but that won’t get them the results. Their expected goals stats so far this season: xGf – 1.65 and xGa – 1.41, which show you how open their games have been, by being great going forward and bad in defence. Great news for Chelsea fans this week was the long awaited return of Rudiger, who might possibly start this weekend. Emerson suffered a knock while playing for Italy and Lampard will turn to Alonso. Kante will also be returning to the squad and should replace Kovacic who has a small injury problem.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS:

Wolves: 3-5-2

Patricio,

Bennett, Coady, Vallejo,

Traore, Dendoncker, Neves, Moutinho, Jonny,

Crutone, Jota.

Chelsea: 4-2-3-1

Arrizabalaga,

Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Zouma, Alonso,

Kante, Jorginho,,

Pulisic, Mount, Willian,

Abraham.

PREDICTION:

Chelsea won’t be able to fix their problems at the back in one weekend and I expect both teams to score in this encounter. Neither team might be 100% focused on this game, even though their manager will say so. As I stated before, we tend to see goals after the international break and this game won’t be different. Neither team can afford to lose this game, so the potential for a score draw is there, that’s why I’m going with both teams to score here.

BETTING:

Both Teams to Score – 1.72 @ BetOlimp

Premier League Record: 10-6 (+5.75 Units)

Best Bet Record: 4-0 (+5.49 Units)

Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change