Are the Wolves Good Enough to Stay in the Premier League?

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil would naturally say yes to our question above, but their results speak for themselves. Because they are winless in their first eight games of the 2024-25 campaign, the Wolves are at the bottom of the Premier League standings, with only one point to show.

After a tough loss against Manchester City, the Wolves head to the AMEX Stadium this weekend for another tricky match against Brighton.

Brighton hit a rough patch in September, but they were able to bounce back with back-to-back wins against Tottenham and Newcastle United, so their confidence is high once again.

Because of their recent run of Premier League 2024 results, the Seagulls improved to fifth place in the standings, and they can enter the top four with a win over the toothless Wolves.

 

Talking Points

Brighton receive big injury boost

Brighton fans collectively held their breath when their star man, Danny Welbeck, was stretchered off in their 1-0 win against Newcastle United last weekend.

The former Manchester United striker scored the marginal goal during the 35^th minute, but he had to leave the game in the 81^st minute after a nasty collision with Fabian Schar.

Welbeck was down for around five minutes and had to be given oxygen. Fortunately for Fabian Hurzeler’s side, they held on for the win.

Last night, Danny Welbeck posted positive news about his injury on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account, saying he should be back in training soon, making him questionable to play against the Wolves alongside Yankuba Minteh and Simon Adingra.

The 33-year-old is turning back the clock this season, as Welbeck is the Seagulls’ leading scorer with five goals. Georginio Rutter and Joao Pedro are right behind him, with two goals each.

Kaoru Mitoma is the team’s top playmaker with two assists and could start on Saturday after coming off the bench against the Magpies.

Fabian Hurzeler still has a huge absentee list, with at least five players out, but they should be fine against the struggling Wolves.

 

No defense, no wins for Wolves

The Wolves are at the bottom of the standings because of their porous defence that has already conceded 23 league goals in the first eight matchdays of the 2024-25 campaign.

In the month of October so far, Gary O’Neil’s men have already conceded seven goals in their last two league outings.

The only clean sheet they’ve had so far this season was a 2-0 win against Burnley in the EFL Cup second round.

Because they’ve conceded goals left and right, Gary O’Neil finds himself at a crossroads in choosing his preferred goalkeeper, with Sam Johnstone and Jose Sa competing for the spot.

Johnstone, who was once on top of the Golden Globe race as a member of Crystal Palace, was signed by the Wolves last summer to potentially be the team’s long-term solution at the No. 1 spot.

However, Sa appears to be regaining his form after a shaky start to the season, especially after his valiant effort in their 2-1 defeat against Manchester City.

 

History

The Seagulls have already beaten the Wolves earlier this season during the EFL Cup third round last September in a game that had five players on the scoresheet from both sides. Carlos Noom Qoumah Baleba, Simon Adingra, and Ferdi Kadioglu scored for Brighton, while Goncalo Guedes and Tommy Doyle scored for the Wolves.

Brighton have now won four of their last five meetings against Wolves (D1) after having won just one of their first seven Premier League games with them (D4, L2).

And the Wolves have won just three of their 20 away league matches against Brighton (D8, L9), with all three of their wins resulting in 1-0 scores (September 2004, January 2016, and December 2021).

 

Betting Tip

The Premier League 2024 odds are unsurprisingly in favour of the hosts for Saturday. Brighton are 1.53 favourites, while the Wolves are 4.93 underdogs, and a draw is at 4.04 in the 1X2 market.

With that said, our recommendation above is one of the safest bets out there. As for the potential goal count of this contest, SBOTOP bettors can go for a relatively high-scoring affair, with options like Over 2.75 at 1.76, Over 3.00 at 1.98, Total Goal 2-3 at 2.02, or even Total Goal 4-6 at 2.55 worth considering.

Moreover, a goalless draw (Correct Score of 0-0) is probably the best-case scenario for Gary O’Neil’s men since it gives them a valuable point and a rare clean sheet. Wolves fans can receive a huge payout of 16.50 if they go for it.

   

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