Value on Saints with recovery onside
Wolverhampton Wanderers take on Southampton on Saturday at Molineux off the back of some midweek action in the Premier League.
The Saints sprung a surprise with an impressive 2-1 win over Chelsea on Tuesday evening, increasing the concerns over Thomas Tuchel’s men’s top four credentials.
Wolves were unfortunate not to take all three points when they hosted Newcastle United last weekend, a sensational Allan Saint-Maximin rescued a point for the visitors after Bruno Lage’s men imposed themselves on the game very impressively.
Sasa Kalajdzic arrived at Wolves on Wednesday to strengthen their forward line and offer some much-needed competition for places with Raul Jimenez at the top of the pitch.
Background
Ralph Hasenhuttl will be desperate to ensure that there is no hangover from the Saints’ excellent result in midweek, and with an extra day to recover for the fixture there are reasons for optimism for the visitors.
Goalscoring has been a real problem for Wolves, only netting two from four games and it will be interesting to see if they can lift their confidence a bit when they travel to Bournemouth on Wednesday.
Jose Sa has looked very assured in goal for Wolves and may be set to be as crucial as he was last term, but Lage will be looking to some of the club’s more experienced players to step up and pull them out of the relegation zone.
Ruben Neves opened the scoring with a powerful drive against Newcastle United, the Portuguese midfielder can have a huge influence on when in-form and that could be harder to stop with the formation Southampton adopt.
Nathan Collins has looked impressive in his first few appearances for Wolves after arriving for big money from Burnley in the summer, and a low margin game looks on the cards.
Dead ball situations and James Ward-Prowse’s ability from them remains a key weapon for the Saints, and Wolves’ resistance will be tested in that sense for sure.
Adam Armstrong getting on the scoresheet against Chelsea will have done wonders for his confidence, and the former Newcastle United striker can be a goal threat at Premier League level in the right system.
Che Adams has been amongst the goals of late, he does not fill the Armando Broja sized hole in the side, but will run the channels and match the Wolves backline physically.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
1-0 Wolves, we take a loss.