On Saturday, 9th of March, during the 28th round of the Premier League, Wolverhampton will host Fulham on their home turf. Gary O'Neil's team suffered a crushing defeat to Newcastle on an away match last weekend, while the 'Cottagers' triumphed over Brighton at home with the same scoreline (3:0).
Wolverhampton: Sa; Kilman, Toti, Dawson; Semedo, Lemina, Doyle, Ait-Nouri; Sarabia, Bellegarde; Neto.
Fulham: Leno; Castagne, Adarabioyo, Bassey, Robinson; Palhinha, Reed; Wilson, Pereira, Willian; Muniz.
The match will take place in Wolverhampton at the Molineux Stadium.
Currently, Wolverhampton occupies the 10th spot in the Premier League table. Trailing four points behind the top seven, Gary O'Neil's pupils can still hope for a place in the European cups. However, for that to happen, they need the FA Cup holder to have already qualified for the continental championship through the league. After two victories against Tottenham (1:2) and Sheffield United (1:0), the 'Wolves' faced defeat last weekend, losing 3:0 to Newcastle.
Alexander Isak scored in the early stages of the match, while successful strikes from Anthony Gordon and Tino Livramento ended all questions about the match outcome. Notably, the host performance at Molineux this season hasn't been too successful: in 13 home matches, they gained 21 points (11th in the division), scored 20 goals, and conceded as many. In the FA Cup, the 'Wolves' have recently triumphed over Brighton (1:0) and in the quarterfinals will meet modest Coventry.
Fulham holds the 12th position in the Premier League overall standing, trailing their upcoming opponents by three points. The Londoners have picked up good form lately, as evident from their single defeat in the last six matches with three victories and two draws. After a 1:2 debacle against Aston Villa, the 'Cottagers' won over Manchester United (1:2), and last weekend at home, they crushed Brighton (3:0). In the first half, Brazilian Rodrigo Muniz and winger Harry Wilson put on a show: the former fed a precise pass to the latter, who struck a strong shot from a long-distance into the top corner; Wilson then assisted Muniz before the break.
Thus, Marco Silva's charges can win three consecutive Premier League matches against teams from the top half of the table for the first time since 2009! However, it is crucial to remember that Fulham performs poorly on the road: in 13 matches away from home, the Londoners have garnered only 10 points, scored 13 goals and conceded 27.
At the end of November, Marco Silva's pupils won a thriller match with a score of 3:2, when Wolverhampton came to West London, thus ending a six-match winless streak against the 'Wolves'.
Despite the defeat in the capital four months ago, Wolverhampton has yet to lose to Fulham at Molineux in the 21st century. The hosts will be determined to redeem themselves for the resounding slap from Newcastle in the previous round, while the 'Cottagers' have been in good form in recent weeks and present an appealing game. Three of the previous seven head-to-head encounters ended in a draw – I expect a similar outcome this time.
The 'Wolves' regularly score 1.5 goals at Molineux this season, while the 'Cottagers' have been scoring in the last five rounds. My prediction is that both teams will score.
Wolverhampton makes about five corner kicks per match and will play with the support of the home crowd – the hosts are likely to meet this measure on Saturday.
Fulham earns around 2.3 yellow cards per match, the visitors - about 2.5. I confidently predict more than 3.5 yellow cards in total.
I'll put my money on an exact score of 1:1.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Manchester City | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9:2 | 9 | |
2 | Liverpool | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7:0 | 9 | |
3 | Brighton | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6:2 | 7 | |
4 | Arsenal | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5:1 | 7 | |
5 | Newcastle | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4:2 | 7 | |
6 | Brentford | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5:4 | 6 | |
7 | Aston Villa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4:4 | 6 | |
8 | Bournemouth | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5:4 | 5 | |
9 | Nottingham | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3:2 | 5 | |
10 | Tottenham | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6:3 | 4 | |
11 | Chelsea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7:5 | 4 | |
12 | Fulham | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3:3 | 4 | |
13 | West Ham | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 4:5 | 3 | |
14 | Manchester Utd | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 2:5 | 3 | |
15 | Leicester | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 3:5 | 1 | |
16 | Crystal Palace | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 2:5 | 1 | |
17 | Ipswich | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -5 | 2:7 | 1 | |
18 | Wolves | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -6 | 3:9 | 1 | |
19 | Southampton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -4 | 1:5 | 0 | |
20 | Everton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -8 | 2:10 | 0 | |
1 | Newcastle | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:1 | 6 | |
2 | Brentford | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:2 | 6 | |
3 | Arsenal | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:1 | 4 | |
4 | Manchester City | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4:1 | 3 | |
5 | Liverpool | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 | |
6 | Brighton | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 | |
7 | Tottenham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4:0 | 3 | |
8 | Fulham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 | |
9 | Manchester Utd | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:3 | 3 | |
10 | Nottingham | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
11 | Bournemouth | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
12 | Chelsea | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1:3 | 1 | |
13 | Leicester | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:3 | 1 | |
14 | Ipswich | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1:3 | 1 | |
15 | Aston Villa | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:2 | 0 | |
16 | West Ham | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2:5 | 0 | |
17 | Crystal Palace | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:2 | 0 | |
18 | Wolves | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2:6 | 0 | |
19 | Southampton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
20 | Everton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2:6 | 0 | |
1 | Manchester City | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:1 | 6 | |
2 | Liverpool | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:0 | 6 | |
3 | Aston Villa | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4:2 | 6 | |
4 | Brighton | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:1 | 4 | |
5 | Bournemouth | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:3 | 4 | |
6 | Arsenal | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 | |
7 | Nottingham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 | |
8 | Chelsea | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6:2 | 3 | |
9 | West Ham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 | |
10 | Newcastle | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
11 | Tottenham | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:3 | 1 | |
12 | Fulham | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 1 | |
13 | Crystal Palace | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:3 | 1 | |
14 | Wolves | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1:3 | 1 | |
15 | Brentford | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:2 | 0 | |
16 | Manchester Utd | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
17 | Leicester | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
18 | Ipswich | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:4 | 0 | |
19 | Southampton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1:4 | 0 | |
20 | Everton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:4 | 0 |
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