GW 17: Wolves vs. Bournemouth

This weekend, we have a very good fixture between two sides who have been performing above expectations. On Saturday, Bournemouth visit Molineux in what should be a very interesting fixture as 8th place takes on 10th. Currently, Wolves are in better form than Bournemouth as they now have 2 wins on the bounce whereas Bournemouth have been struggling in recent games. These teams have only ever played 2 matches against each other as they have both been in different divisions for much of their history. In these 2 games that they have played against each other, Bournemouth won both in the 2014/15 season, winning 2-1 on each occasion. This will be the first ever Premier League match played between the sides as each manager will be looking for a crucial 3 points to keep their team in the top half of the table. As mentioned earlier, Bournemouth are in some bad form at the moment and it might be a different story than last time as Wolves will be looking to move above them in the standings and win the match.

After a bad bit of form where people started to doubt Wolves’ quality, they’ve come back to playing very good football and over the last couple games they’ve looked a really good side. Over the course of the season they have played really well and playing an expansive style which is shown by their place in the table. Before their last 2 games, Wolves had gone on a very bad run of form losing 5 and drawing 1 before their win over Chelsea. Their last match was a nervy win over Newcastle where they left it right till the end to score the winning goal. In the match Wolves probably deserved the win and expected goals had the match at 1.72 to 0.46 in Wolves’ favour. Overall the match was very even with Newcastle edging possession with 50.4% while Wolves had more shots (13 to 12) and more shots on target (6 to 4). In the end Wolves had the better quality chances and were able to win in the 94th minute of the match as Doherty tapped in his 3rd goal of the season.

Wolves have had some issues in attack this season only scoring 17 from 16 so far, but when they have been playing strong attacking football, Raul Jimenez has often been involved. The Mexican forward has been very productive so far this season with 4 goals and 4 assists. This means he has been involved in almost half of Wolves’ goals this season. In this match you would expect that his link up play and finishing ability will be very important especially since he was rested last week and should be at his best. Neves will be another important player for Wolves, especially defensively. At the moment, Neves is making 4.2 tackles and interceptions a match as well as 58 passes a match and 7.2 long balls. This shows that he is important both defensively and when trying to keep possession  for his side. He is an incredibly well rounded player and against a team like Bournemouth, who have a strong attack and some good defensive players, he’ll be crucial to the side. Neves also missed their clash against Chelsea two matchweeks ago, so he should be fitter and fresher than most other players.

Bournemouth started the season in flying form which means they are currently in 8th place 1 point ahead this Wolves team. However, their form has drastically decreased since the beginning, and have only won 1 of their last 6 matches. This game was against Huddersfield where they won 2-1 a fortnight ago. In their 5 losses in this period they have a total goal difference of minus 9 conceding 13 and scoring just 4. A big problem for Bournemouth this season has been their defence as they’ve conceded 26 so far. This sloppy defence was apparent against Liverpool as they conceded 4 in a 4-0 defeat. The scoreline doesn’t tell the full story though, and in the end, they were quite unlucky to lose by such a large margin. Expected goals predicted the game at 1.81 to 0.28 in Liverpool’s favour and the large discrepancy between this and the real outcome is largely due to an incredible performance from Mohamed Salah and a nightmare performance for Steve Cook. Bournemouth will definitely need to play better in this game because if they don’t, Wolves have very threatening players who will definitely capitalize on any errors, just like Liverpool did.

Bournemouth’s key man in this match will be Callum Wilson if he’s back fit. He missed the last match with a hamstring problem and Bournemouth severely missed him as they weren’t able to find the back of the net. In his 15 appearances this season, he has been outstanding scoring 8 goals and producing 5 assists. His incredible creative power which is highlighted by his 8 chances created, will be desperately needed in this game along with his superb finishing ability. Jefferson Lerma should be an important midfield player in the game and will be crucial in fending off pass masters Neves and Moutinho. Lerma has a very impressive defensive output with 46 tackles and interceptions this season averaging 3.9 a match. He is also making 0.6 dribbles a game and making 48 passes a match and he could be important going forward. He has been a very important midfield player for Bournemouth this season and especially with Lewis Cook out with an injury, he will be crucial in stopping a top quality opposition midfield.

Wolves come into the game without many injury problems affecting them. Jonny Otto is the main problem as he was playing brilliantly for them at the beginning of the season until he went out with a knee injury. He definitely won’t be able to play in the match and he is expected back during late December, but young wingback Vinagre should be able to replace him. For Bournemouth, 4 key players could be missing in the match. Smith, Lewis Cook, Gosling and Wilson all have an injury of some kind with every one of them but Wilson guaranteed to miss out. Smith is currently out with a bad knee injury that should see him miss out until late February while Cook could be out until June with an anterior cruciate ligament. This is incredibly bad for Bournemouth as they both started the season out very well and their recent absence might be part of the reason for their drop in form. Out of the 4 injured players Wilson is probably most important considering his form, and Bournemouth will hope that he recovers from his hamstring injury in time for the match.

It will be interesting to see whether the game is high scoring or not as Wolves have a very good defensive record whereas Bournemouth are quite poor defensively but good when going forwards. This is highlighted by the fact that Bournemouth have conceded at least 2 goals in 5 of their last 6 matches proving their consistently poor defensive performances. Although Wolves are strong defensively you might be right to expect a more high scoring match as there have been more than 2 goals in both of the teams last 3 games. Overall, with Bournemouth’s recent poor form you would expect Wolves to come out on top and I’m predicting 2-1 to Wolves.