O´Neil: Wolves have ´mountain to climb´ for Premier League survival

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil said his team’s error-strewn defeat to Bournemouth has “given them a mountain to climb” if they are to remain in the Premier League this season.

O’Neil’s side were the creators of their own downfall against the Cherries last time out, conceding three penalties as they fell to a 4-2 defeat at Molineux.

Wolves’ eighth defeat of the season leaves them in the relegation zone after 13 games this season, though they are just two points behind Wednesday’s opponents Everton.

Their struggles have been at both ends of the pitch, scoring 22 goals and conceding 32 after 13 games in the Premier League this season – the earliest in a top-flight campaign a team has scored more than 20 and conceded more than 30 goals since Watford in 1984-85.

“Incredibly disappointing and self-inflicted. Some crazy errors there, especially early in the game. It is disappointing. The lads are equally disappointed,” O’Neil said.

“We need to turn our attentions quickly to Wednesday, with a big test against Everton.

“Crazy, crazy penalties to give away. We have to write those off because you can’t win games if you concede goals like that. Any error as big as those, at this level, is going to be tough to bounce back from.

“We have given ourselves a mountain to climb, which we haven’t done in the last four games.”

Defeat.

pic.twitter.com/qEGx5TEsrq

— Wolves (@Wolves) November 30, 2024

Everton, meanwhile, were thrashed 4-0 by Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United, marking the fifth time they have lost a Premier League game by a 4+ goal margin under manager Sean Dyche.

But the Toffees had started brightly at Old Trafford, albeit without offering too much in the way of a threat until the Red Devils hit the front with the aid of a deflection and a mistake by Jarrad Branthwaite.

Confident his side can bounce back from a disappointing defeat, Dyche recognises his side must return to their defensive solidity – a trait which helped them to keep four clean sheets out of six games heading into Sunday’s game – while also trying to find more potency in front of goal.

“Well, the strangest thing is we’ve been down this road before, unfortunately, where the pressure comes on and we have to respond, and then we do respond, and we win a game, and we change it somewhat,” Dyche said.

“It’s been a hard narrative to change for a long time both with me and before me. We consistently are working hard to change it. We move forward, we drop back, we move forward, we drop back.

“And then we can’t find that killer edge and then the mistakes come in and it’s got away from you too quickly. So, [we need to be] eradicating the mistakes and going again and bringing that mentality that we’ve shown many times before.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Everton – Dwight McNeil

McNeil has both had the most shots (13) and created the most chances (13) for Everton at Goodison Park in the Premier League this season, both an average of 2.2 per 90 minutes.

He’s the first player to average more than two shots and two chances created per 90 mins in a season (min. 500 minutes) since Gylfi Sigurdsson in 2018-19 (3.1 shots, 2.5 chances created).

Wolves – Matheus Cunha

Cunha has scored 15 away Premier League goals for Wolves, only the second player to do so along with Raul Jimenez (18).

The Brazilian has also scored in each of his last four away appearances, with Steven Fletcher the only other Wolves player to do so during the 2011-12 campaign (also four in a row).

Thank you for your support at Molineux yesterday pic.twitter.com/G0aMJRPNmH

— Wolves (@Wolves) December 1, 2024

MATCH PREDICTION: EVERTON WIN

Despite being favoured by Opta’s data-led simulations, Everton have lost their last three home league games against Wolves. It’s their longest losing home run against them, and as many defeats as they’d suffered in their previous 18 against Wolves at Goodison Park (W9 D6).

And in a huge game between two teams at the bottom, do not expect goals on Merseyside. Two of Everton’s last three home top-flight matches have ended goalless, as many as in their previous 54 combined. The last three games at Goodison Park have seen just two goals scored, with both Everton and their opponents converting just 2.4% of their attempts (2/82).

The Toffees have also won just 29.5% of their Premier League games played on Wednesdays (33/112), their lowest win rate on any day of the week in the competition. However, they won their last such game 2-0 against Liverpool in April.

Wolves, meanwhile, have won their last three Premier League away games against Everton – only at Southampton (a current run of four) have they won more consecutively on the road in the competition.

O’Neil’s side have also scored four goals in three of their last 16 away Premier League games, having only done so once in their first 180 away games in the competition. They are also looking to score two or more goals in four consecutive away top-flight matches for the first time since April 1980.

But they face a difficult test to keep that run going. Everton have kept a clean sheet in 44% of their Premier League games under Dyche at Goodison Park (15/34) – the only permanent Toffees manager with a higher ratio in the competition is Joe Royle (46%, 22/48).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Everton – 45.8%

Draw – 25.7%

Wolves – 28.5%