Wolves return to action in the Premier League this evening, as Gary O’Neil hopes to welcome back a number of faces against Bournemouth at Molineux, here’s our predicted lineup.
It’s been a tough time for Wolves, who are without a win in their previous five Premier League fixtures, giving Gary O’Neil a significant challenge to battle when it comes to the lack of depth in his squad.
The manager has had to navigate around the list of injuries that have plagued his squad of late, with a host of first-team players recently absent concurrently.
On Saturday, the Old Gold put in a tremendous performance against Arsenal despite losing 2-0, a match that saw a bizarre XI selected by the boss, who had little supplies to work with when choosing his starting lineup.
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Joao Gomes started on the wing, with Mario Lemina later coming on as a striker however, nonetheless, Wolves dug deep against the Gunners, and will look to do the same against the manager’s former club.
Fortunately, O’Neil has had a positive injury update ahead of tonight’s fixture which could see multiple changes to his starting XI.
Wolves injury news and predicted lineup to play Bournemouth
The easiest option for the manager to make this evening is selecting Jose Sa in goal, who is Wolves’ firm number one, despite links to a new keeper ahead of the summer.
While O’Neil confirmed that Nelson Semedo is ‘looking better’, the boss could prolong his time away from the starting XI to ensure no further injury is caused, with the Portgual international joining Craig Dawson as those injured from the back line.
As a result, Wolves could lineup with a similar back four to the one that featured against Arsenal, with Matt Doherty and Toti Gomes keeping their places as the full-backs, supported by Santi Bueno and Max Kilman in the middle.
A huge relief is the fact that Rayan Ait-Nouri has been deemed fit to start however, given Wolves’ absences in attack, O’Neil could be tempted to field the versatile Algerian on the wing.
Pablo Sarabia has also been cleared to start, with a middle four of the Spaniard, Gomes, Lemina and Ait-Nouri surely the best option for the hosts.
It would be cruel to see both the “unbelievable” Tommy Doyle, as lauded by O’Neil, and Boubacar Traore drop to the bench after their displays against Arsenal although, the manager has made his preferred pivot in the engine room clear.
In a significant boost, Matheus Cunha and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde were described as doing ‘better’ by the boss, hinting at a slim involvement in the fixture.
To start, Hwang Hee-chan will keep his position alongside 20-year-old Tawanda Chirewa, who was described as ‘quality’ by journalist Liam Keen for his performance against Arsenal, via Express and Star.
Given how Wolves lined up on Saturday, anything could go although, with more options available, the manager could be tempted to make some switches.
Full Wolves predicted XI:
Sa; Toti, Kilman, Bueno, Doherty; Ait-Nouri, Lemina, Gomes, Sarabia; Hwang, Chirewa