s it comes down to crunch time, Wolves will return to a sold out Molineux yet again for their 38th game of the championship season. Coming off the back of a very comfortable 3-0 win over struggling side Reading, Wolves will look to gain some consistency in their final push for promotion. They will host Burton, a team who are fighting for survival in the bottom three.
Burton, who currently sit 23rd in the table come into this game without a win in 4 games, and lost 2-0 to Sheffield United earlier on in the week. Playing a very strong Wolves side away from home will be the complete opposite of what Burton Albion fans would be hoping for at this end of the season, but for Wolves fans, we couldn’t dream of anything better. Nuno will have to make sure that his side are not complacent, which we have seen far too much of in recent games, leading to Wolves losing a 13 point gap at the top drop down to only 3.
After seeing a few changes in the starting Wolves team last game and a slight knock for Jota, Wolves fans will have a good idea of the lineup Wolves will play for this fixture. With Helder Costa running the show and Afobe scoring on his first start for the club since returning in January, there would be no reason to change a side which looks threatening in attack, and one that also kept a clean sheet. Matt Doherty managed to get himself a surprising 2 goals which very much aided Wolves to the 3-0 win over Reading and Ryan Bennet got another start for Wolves in replacement for Danny Batth. As previously mentioned with Jota, although it is unsure whether it is a serious injury or not, Nuno will most likely rest him and keep Ivan Cavaleiro in the team, who also played a good game after coming on early in the first half.
In the reverse fixture, Wolves cruised to a 4-0 victory away at Burton at the very beginning of the season, meaning that we may see a far more defensive set-up for Burton this time round, as they hope to run away with at least a point this weekend.
Ones to watch:
For Wolves, the one to watch has to be Helder Costa. It is clear in recent weeks that when coming off the bench, he does not have anywhere near the same impact he does then when he starts. No one knows why this is, but Nuno should take advantage of this. With Jota potentially out, Costa will be looking to once again run the show and try and maintain his spot in the starting team for the last games of the season.
For Burton, the one to would has to be Darren Bent. Although he has yet to score for Burton, he has a good record against Wolves in the past and Wolves will need to keep an eye out for him. In previous years, he has been a prolific goal scorer in the championship for many different sides and Burton will need him to start becoming his old self, as they attempt to fight their way out of the relegation zone.
Like most games at this point in the season, it is crucial for both sides to get the best result possible. With other teams gaining, Wolves cannot afford to drop any points against a side in the bottom three. As for Burton, they are slowly running out of games to save themselves from leaving the championship at the end of the season. It all goes down in front of a sold out Molineux this Saturday. Let’s see what happens.
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