Can Enzo Maresca’s side end their Premier League winless run? We look ahead to Monday night’s clash with our Chelsea vs Wolves prediction and preview.
Chelsea vs Wolves Stats: The Key Insights
- The Opta supercomputer struggled to see past the home side winning as Chelsea triumphed in 68.8% of pre-match simulations.
- Chelsea are winless in five Premier League games, their longest such run since a seven-match spell between March and May 2023.
- Wolves could become the first top-flight side since 1910 to lose their opening three games of a calendar year by three or more goals.
Enzo Maresca will hope Chelsea can end their Premier League struggles when they host out-of-form Wolves on Monday night.
Chelsea are on a five-game winless streak in the league, which has dropped them down to fifth in the table ahead of the clash at Stamford Bridge. That is their longest such run in the competition since a seven-match stretch between March and May 2023.
Reece James’ late free-kick salvaged a 2-2 draw last time out at home against Bournemouth. However, concerningly for Maresca, his side have accumulated just 43% of their Premier League points this season at home (16/37) – the lowest share in the division.
Cole Palmer opened the scoring in that Bournemouth draw but suffered a knock that has left him doubtful for Monday. That may be good news for Wolves, considering Palmer assisted all three of Noni Madueke’s goals in the reverse fixture back in August, helping him to five Premier League goal involvements in his last two outings against them.
Wolves will also need to be mindful of another pairing, however. Palmer and Nicolas Jackson have combined for 12 Premier League goals since the start of last season, more than any other duo.
Only four pairs of Chelsea players have combined for more goals than that current duo in Premier League history – Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard (36), Cesc Fàbregas and Diego Costa (14), Drogba and Nicolas Anelka (13) and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen (13).
Wolves’ answer at the other end may not come in the form of two players, though, with Matheus Cunha seemingly on a one-man mission to drag Vitor Pereira’s side away from the relegation zone.
The Brazilian forward is averaging 3.3 shots per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season. Among players to play 1,000+ minutes in a campaign for Wolves, only Henri Camara in 2003-04 has averaged more shots in one season (4 per 90 mins).
However, Pereira opted to start with Cunha – who was suffering from illness – on the bench for Wednesday night’s 3-0 defeat away to Newcastle United. Wolves were also defeated by the same scoreline at home to Nottingham Forest in the clash before, and an unwanted piece of history could await here.
The last side to lose their opening three top-flight games of a calendar year by 3+ goals was Forest back in 1910 (three 4-1 defeats) – and Pereira may be concerned given Wolves’ recent record in the capital.
There have been 57 goals scored at an average of 4.4 per game across Wolves’ last 13 Premier League away games in London (25 for, 32 against). Wolves have not managed to keep a clean sheet in the capital since a 2-0 win at Tottenham in February 2022, going 22 without one since then.
As for team news, Maresca suggested Palmer was a doubt for Monday, with Levi Colwill, Enzo Fernández and Roméo Lavia all facing similar late fitness tests. Pereira may opt to bring back Mario Lemina after his apology for a backroom fallout, while Cunha’s illness will be assessed ahead of the capital visit.
Chelsea vs Wolves Head-to-Head
Chelsea have lost three of their last four Premier League games against Wolves, as many as they had in their previous 17 (W10 D4).
However, Maresca’s side did hammer Wolves 6-2 in this season’s reverse fixture thanks to Madueke’s hat-trick, along with goals for Jackson, Palmer and João Félix.
Wolves will still have hope, however. Then managed by Gary O’Neil, they won 4-2 in this exact clash last campaign when Cunha scored a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge.
Any away optimism might be dented by the fact that Wolves have not won consecutive away league games against Chelsea since February 1964.
Chelsea vs Wolves Prediction
The Opta supercomputer leant significantly towards a home win – Chelsea triumphed in a dominant 68.8% of 10,000 pre-match simulations.
Wolves managed an unlikely away win in just 13.8% of the same data-led sims, while the draw was ranked more likely in 17.4% of scenarios.
Pereira’s side are still in danger of relegation, too, dropping down to the Championship in 30.6% of Opta’s end-of-season simulations. Chelsea, meanwhile, finished fourth most often in 19.8%.
Chelsea vs Wolves Predicted Lineups
Opta Power Rankings
The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system. They assign an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams. This score is on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.
Ahead of kick-off this weekend, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.
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