Prediction: Wolves win
Best Odds: 4/7
Bookmaker: 888sport
Playing against your biggest rivals is always one of the big highlights of the football calendar for so many fans up and down the country, but Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion supporters haven’t been able to get excited about that for the last nine years. Now, after almost a decade, the Black Country derby will be revived once more this Saturday as the two clubs prepare to meet in one of English football’s most bitter fixtures.
Wolves
After finishing in seventh place in consecutive Premier League seasons, the expectations were understandably high for Wolves before this campaign began. Unfortunately, due to a mixture of injuries, having a small squad and some questionable in-game management from Nuno Espirito Santo, the club is currently down in 14th place. If they want to avoid the embarrassment of being dragged into the relegation scrap, they can’t afford to be beaten here.
Team News
The injury list makes for very grim reading for Wolves fans as Boly is a doubt and the following players have been ruled out of the game: Marcal, Jimenez, Podence, Jonny and Traore, although some are hoping that Adama is fit enough to feature through some kind of miraculous recovery.
West Brom
West Bromwich Albion supporters knew it was going to be a tough top flight return for them but few could’ve envisaged it would be quite this dire. They are favourites for the drop alongside Sheffield United, and even after bringing in Big Sam, you could argue that things have gotten even worse for them. If they are to have any hope of turning this ship around they need to make some wholesale changes during the January transfer window.
Team News
Gallagher is suspended for the Baggies which should allow Livermore to make his way back into the starting XI. Robson-Kanu is still recovering from a broken arm and probably won’t play a role whereas Townsend and Grant are both still on the shelf for the visitors.
Factors to Consider
- In their last meeting back in February 2012, West Brom beat Wolves 5-1.
- Wolves have won one, drawn two and lost three of their last six games.
- West Brom have drawn three and lost three of their last six games.
- Wolves have scored seven goals and conceded nine in their last six games.
- West Brom have scored four goals and conceded 16 in their last six games.
Sam Allardyce will be well aware of what this game means to both sets of supporters and as such, we can see him putting ten men behind the ball in the hope that the Baggies can at least come away with a positive result. On the flip side, with Conor Coady recently indicating that the Wolves squad are well aware of how much this game means, they should be expected to go for it – especially at Molineux. We’re expecting Nuno’s men to just about edge out West Brom with a 2-1 victory. Prediction: Wolves win Best Odds: 4/7 Bookmaker: 888sport
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