Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea will both be looking to bounce back from dampening defeats in the Premier League when the two sides go head to head at Molineux on Tuesday evening.
The hosts lost on their own patch to West Midlands rivals Aston Villa at the weekend, while Chelsea's unbeaten run was ended at the hands of Everton in front of the Goodison Park faithful.
Match preview
© Reuters
While the return of Raul Jimenez to the training complex was quite the uplifting moment for Nuno Espirito Santo's side, the Wolves faithful had little to cheer about when they welcomed Aston Villa to Molineux at the weekend.
The visitors lost Douglas Luiz to a red card in the 85th minute, but Villa earned the local bragging rights as Anwar El Ghazi converted from 12 yards after John McGinn was brought down by Nelson Semedo, with Joao Moutinho also being brandished from the field as both sides ended the game with 10 men.
Nuno's men can now only boast one win from their last five in the top flight - an impressive 2-1 triumph at Arsenal - and Wolves have now slipped to 13th in the table following Crystal Palace's draw with Tottenham Hotspur.
The loss of Jimenez was always going to have a devastating impact on Wolves' attacking prowess - with 18-year-old Fabio Silva far from the finished article - but the teenager will have to quickly adapt to the Premier League unless Santo opts to bring in another centre-forward in the January transfer window.
Nevertheless, Silva has insisted that he is fit to fill Jimenez's boots while the Mexico international recovers, but the Portuguese youngster will certainly have his work cut out for him against a normally reliable Chelsea rearguard.
© Reuters
Edouard Mendy had kept five Premier League clean sheets in eight matches before the Blues travelled to Goodison Park, which welcomed fans back for the first time since the coronavirus-enforced postponement.
However, Frank Lampard's number one took out Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the first half, which allowed Gylfi Sigurdsson to coolly slot home from the penalty spot as the Blues shared Wolves' fate in gameweek 12.
Defeat on Merseyside ended Chelsea's 14-game unbeaten run in all competitions since their EFL Cup defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, and Lampard's side lost for the first time in the Premier League since Everton's neighbours Liverpool marched to a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge in September.
However, both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur were unable to take advantage of Chelsea's slip-up on Merseyside, but Leicester City did with a 3-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday - meaning that Lampard's men find themselves outside of the top four after 12 matches.
Wolves and Chelsea fans were treated to a seven-goal thriller in this fixture last season, one which the Blues won 5-2 on a day where Tammy Abraham scored a hat-trick and an own goal at Molineux.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form: WLDWLL
Chelsea Premier League form: WWWDWL
Chelsea form (all competitions): WDWWDL
Team News
© Reuters
Veteran midfielder Moutinho will play no part in this one following his late sending-off against Villa, with his compatriot Ruben Neves set to return to the engine room.
There is still no timeframe on Jimenez's return to action after his skull fracture, while Jonny Otto is Wolves' other long-term absentee.
Willy Boly was forced to watch from the substitutes bench at the weekend and is unlikely to force his way back into the lineup for this one, but Rayan Ait Nouri could come in at left-back if Marcal is granted a rest.
Chelsea's three natural wingers are all out of action at the moment, with Christian Pulisic not making the trip to Everton after suffering a setback in his recovery from a hamstring problem.
The American is in the squad for this one but may not be risked from the off, but Callum Hudson-Odoi and Hakim Ziyech are not expected to return before Boxing Day at the earliest.
Timo Werner and Kai Havertz are all but guaranteed to start out wide again, and Jorginho will be vying for a start in midfield over Mateo Kovacic, with any further alterations on the visitors' end unlikely.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Patricio; Semedo, Coady, Saiss, Marcal; Neves, Dendoncker; Traore, Podence, Neto; Silva
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Mendy; James, Zouma, Silva, Chilwell; Kante, Jorginho, Mount; Havertz, Giroud, Werner
We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Chelsea
Both sides could only be undone by penalties in their last outings, and Wolves should make this a much closer affair compared to last season's thrashing in front of their own fans. However, Lampard's side can hurt almost any team going forward - even without any natural wingers in the side - and we expect the Blues to come out on top against an inconsistent Wolves outfit this week.
Top betting tip
Video prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Chelsea win with a probability of 47.7%. A win for Wolverhampton Wanderers had a probability of 26.7% and a draw had a probability of 25.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Chelsea win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.29%) and 0-2 (8.65%). The likeliest Wolverhampton Wanderers win was 1-0 (7.97%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.16%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 6.5% likelihood.
