Premier League: Wolves Bite Can Floor the Seagulls

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Brighton & Hove Albion

13^th hosts tenth in a fascination clash in the Midlands on Saturday when Vitor Pereira’s Wolverhampton Wanderers host Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton and Hove Albion.

Premier League: Wolves vs Brighton would be a casual mid table clash in most seasons but this time around there is plenty of intrigue, because the hosts have been charging up the league table while the visitors, though stumbling of late, still have a very good chance of earning European football next season.   

Wolves come into the game on the back of a narrow 1-0 loss to Manchester City, a defeat which ended a sequence of six consecutive victories, while Brighton picked up an impressive 1-1 home draw with Newcastle, which came after a 3-2 victory over West Ham United which got the Seagulls’ Europa hopes back on track. While the race for the Champions League is on a knife-edge, there is plenty to play for in the battle for Europa and Conference places with the top eight and maybe even more qualifying for European competition.  

The Wolves vs Brighton betting odds favour a positive result for the Seagulls but I suspect the visitors will have a tough time at Molineux on Saturday. 

 

Talking Points

Strand Larsen hopeful for Wolves

Matheus Cunha has been the stand out star for Wolves this season; but the emerging talent of Jorgen Strand Larsen has been attracting attention in recent weeks as the Norwegian hit-man has scored 13 league goals, just two behind Cunha’s 15 goal tally. But Strand Larsen missed the narrow defeat to Manchester City with a groin strain and now Pereira is hoping his forward will be available to meet Brighton. 

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is standing by but the Norwegian’s rise to fame has coincided with Wolves’ impressive climb away from trouble; though the manager takes a huge amount of credit. Pereira arrived following the sacking of Gary O’Neil in December and he has lifted the team from the bottom three to mid-table with a combination of solid defending and attacking with purpose. Alongside Cunha and Stand Larsen, the contribution of wing back Rayan Ait-Nouri has been crucial, with seven assists and four goals, and if all three line up against Brighton the Seagulls will be in danger of a mauling.   

 

Still no Pedro for battling Brighton

Hurzeler, the youngest manager in the Premier League, made a great start to life in the Premier League but his team has struggled to maintain momentum in the race for Europe and the suspension of star striker Joao Pedro has come at a bad time. With ten goals and six assists Pedro has been the most dangerous attacker in Brighton’s team but his red card against Brentford means he has missed the games against Newcastle and West Ham and he will sit this game out against Wolves too. But Brighton pulled of a great comeback against the Hammers and the Seagulls’ clash with Newcastle United turned into another good result which would have been another win but Alexander Isak’s late penalty.   

Experienced striker Danny Welbeck, who has scored nine goals is likely to start but Kaoru Miitoma, who also has nine goals, isdoubtful.

 

History

The Seagulls have had the better of the head to head Wolves vs Brighton results with ten wins to six but there have been plenty of tight tussles between the two teams with 13 draws in this fixture since 2002. The return match ended in a 2-2 draw when the two teams met on the South Coast in October as Welbeck put the Seagulls ahead and Cunha scored an injury time leveller to lift Wolves off the bottom of the table.

With five wins from six the hosts’ recent form is much better than their visitors who have managed just one victory in that time, and Wolves have won their last three games at Molineux.  

 

Betting Tip

The Seagulls are priced at SBOTOP odds of 2.27 to win and the draw is priced at 3.22 and there is a good case to make for either outcome. Brighton still have plenty to play for and with two good results behind them they will be growing in confidence. But Wolves have been in super form recently, winning six league games on the run and pushing reigning champions Manchester City all the way last week.

I don’t think the hosts will be lacking in conviction and they are playing without pressure; so I think they can win this game and make it four home wins in a row, and for a correct score line, 2-1 to Wolves at odds of 9.44 won’t be far from the mark.  

   

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