Prediction: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Liverpool

Verdict: Both teams to score

Best odds: 10/13

Bookmaker: Unibet

Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool are set to do battle for the third time in the last month on Saturday at the Molineux. Having met twice in the FA Cup, they’re now going to compete for Premier League points as both teams seek to undo a lot of things that have gone wrong since the start of the season.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

From seeking to play in Europe to hoping and working hard to merely avoid a desperate relegation scramble later on, it hasn’t been easy for Wolves and their supporters to accept what’s been happening this term. Eventually, Bruno Lage was sacked from the manager job and Julen Lopetegui appointed in his place, adding his own touch to the lively arena that is the Premier League these days.

The former FC Porto, Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla boss has already managed to get some things in order, and Wolves have been playing better since his arrival. In the last six competitive matches, they drew 1-1 away to Aston Villa, 2-2 away to Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup, 1-1 away to Nottingham Forest, beat West Ham 1-0 at home, lost the cup replay against Liverpool 0-1 at home, and lost 3-0 away to Manchester City. They probably should’ve won more than just one of those games, but losing just to last-season Premier League champions and the runners-up is not that bad either.

Be that as it may, a there is a lot of work still to be done for Wolves to be able to stop worrying about potential relegation. At the moment, they are in 17th place with 17 points, the same tally as Bournemouth directly below, whose position marks the beginning of the relegation zone. On the other hand, the trio of Leicester City in 14th, Leeds United in 15th and West Ham in 16th are all just one point ahead.

Team News

There are four players missing from Lopetegui’s ranks at the moment and none of them will play on Saturday. Striker Sasa Kalajdzic tore his ACL practically as soon as he arrived at the club last summer and will be absent for a long time yet, probably for the whole season. Winger Francisco Tavares Oliveira, better known as “Chiquinho”, has the same problem, though he should be back in early April. Winger Pedro Neto (ankle) and midfielder Boubacar Traore (groin) will need another month.

Jose Sa should be in goal, with Toti Gomes and Nathan Collins pairing up in the heart of defence, flanked by Jonny Oto and Nelson Semedo. Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho are likely to be tasked with plenty of hard work in the middle of the park, with Adama Traore and Rayan Ait-Nouri out wide. Striker Raul Jimenez could be supported by Hwang Hee-chan, but newcomer Pablo Sarabia will also be hoping for his first start in England and Lopetegui has a tough decision to make there.

Liverpool

As for Liverpool, things keep going from bad to worse. There’s plenty of turmoil at the club, both on the pitch and off it, with the results suffering amid strong speculation about the future of the club itself.

Owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) are widely believed to be looking to sell up, having steered the ship away from the extremely turbulent waters where they found it back in 2010, despite the sources within the organization continuously telling the press that they merely seek for minority investors to boost Liverpool’s financial power. At the moment, the general feeling among the fans is that a large majority would welcome a change on that front, but whether it comes to pass or not remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the results and standings are suffering, and leaving the questions of ownership aside, there seems to be plenty of fatigue, both physical and emotional, among the players themselves after the near misses of last season. Remember, Liverpool were not only the runners-up in the Premier League, but in the Champions League as well, and that after winning both domestic cups in England. Therefore, this season feels like a huge, huge drop from those heights – the Merseysiders have been knocked out of both cups, competing for the league title is realistically impossible, and not many believe they’ll be able to get past Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16.

At the moment, Liverpool are ninth with 29 points, the same tally as Chelsea in 10th, one less than Brentford in eighth, two less than Fulham in seventh and Brighton in sixth, seven less than Tottenham Hotspur in fifth, and 10 less than Manchester United in fourth and Newcastle in third.

That win over Wolves in the cup replay is the only triumph for Liverpool in their last six matches, along with a 3-1 defeat away to Brentford, the 2-2 draw at home against Wolves in the first cup encounter, a 3-0 thrashing suffered away to Brighton, a goalless draw at home against Chelsea, and a 2-1 FA Cup defeat away to Brighton again.

Team News

Injuries are a huge part of the problem for manager Jurgen Klopp, making him unable to shake things up properly amid all the poor form in his team. Forwards Luis Diaz (knee), Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino (both calf) remain out. The latter two should come back in the near future, but this game comes much too soon for them. Other absentees include defenders Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate (both hamstring), and midfielder Arthur Melo (thigh).

Klopp will make a late decision on winger Fabio Carvalho, who was kept out of the Brighton match with a minor unspecified problem.

With Alisson Becker between the posts, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip seem certain to start at the back, with Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right and Andy Robertson on the left. Fabinho’s poor form in recent matches has opened the door wide for Stefan Bajcetic, and the 18-year-old could be given another chance here. Thiago Alcantara and Harvey Elliott are likely to start alongside Bajcetic, with the trio of Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah in attack.

Conclusion

It feels pretty strange to be saying this, but Liverpool’s status as the favourites to win this match is questionable. After all we’ve seen from them recently, anything could happen, but it’s very likely that the goalkeepers will need to pick the ball out of the net at least once each.

Verdict: Both teams to score

Best odds: 10/13

Bookmaker: Unibet