Having experienced both the joy and despair of late goals in the past week, Wolverhampton Wanderers travel south to take on Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
Their hosts, meanwhile, have slumped to seven games without a win and are looking nervously at the clubs below them in the Premier League relegation dogfight.
Match preview
© Reuters
Wolves arrive on the South Coast aiming to bounce back from a heart-breaking last gasp defeat against Manchester United in midweek.
Nuno Espirito Santo's men looked set for a hard-earned point at the Theatre of Dreams until Marcus Rashford struck in the 93rd minute to deny them a draw.
That result leaves Wolves 12th in the table, with a growing focus on their diminished goalscoring record - they have just 15 goals from 16 games so far this term.
As the inevitable consequence of Diogo Jota's departure and the unfortunate head injury to star striker Raul Jimenez, Wolves' callow stand-in strikers have floundered. Since Jimenez suffered a sickening skull fracture against Arsenal, they have failed to find the back of the net in three of their last six games.
Even a much-changed attack - featuring Adama Traore and Pedro Neto in the most advanced positions - could not yield a goal against United. Previously, ex-Porto prodigy Fabio Silva had been hastily promoted to the starting XI without time to acclimatise to life in the Black Country and he has understandably failed to flourish.
Saturday's clash of struggling sides - who between them have just one win in their last 13 games combined - offers Nuno and his misfiring attack an opportunity to start 2021 on a brighter note, with three straight home games to follow.
© Reuters
In midweek, Brighton welcomed current crisis club Arsenal - who had just been boosted by an impressive defeat of Chelsea - hoping to finally end a six-game winless run in the top flight.
However, Graham Potter's men were again unable to claim a much-needed victory, as they fell to a 1-0 loss courtesy of substitute Alexandre Lacazette's strike just 29 seconds after his introduction.
Having previously played out three consecutive draws, a lifeless encounter looked to be heading the same way before the ex-Lyon striker's quickfire intervention.
Unexpectedly, Brighton boss Potter left forwards Neal Maupay and Danny Welbeck on the bench - two of six changes made to the starting XI for the Gunners' visit. His side endured another frustrating evening in attack though, with Alireza Jahanbakhsh providing little threat up front.
Brighton remain two points above the drop zone in 17th, but have been sucked closer towards the bottom three in recent weeks.
As their last Premier League win came back in late November, the visit of injury-hit Wolves perhaps provides a realistic opportunity to end that miserable run before those sides below catch up with them.
Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form: LLDDDL
Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form: LLWLDL
Team News
© Reuters
Wolves manager Nuno - who has now been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association over comments made about referee Lee Mason - is likely to be without Willy Boly and Leander Dendoncker on Saturday, as neither is set to recover from injury in time.
The first-choice pair will join longer-term absentees Jonny Castro and Raul Jimenez on the sidelines. Though Jonny has stepped up his recovery from a serious knee injury and is on the verge of a return to the squad, Fernando Marcal or Rayan Ait-Nouri will deputise for the Spain international on the left flank.
Graham Potter is expected to be without promising right-back Tariq Lamptey (out recently with a hamstring injury), winger Jose Izquierdo, and forward Florin Andone for Wolves' visit, but both Adam Lallana and Danny Welbeck could return to the starting XI.
Former Ajax defender Joel Veltman should continue to cover for Lamptey, while Neal Maupay is set to start up front after another blunt showing by the Albion attack last time out.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Webster, Dunk, White; Veltman, Bissouma, Propper, Lallana, March; Maupay, Welbeck
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Patricio; Coady, Saiss, Kilman; Ait-Nouri, Neves, Moutinho, Semedo; Podence; Neto, Silva
We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
With both sides at a low ebb following a spirit-sapping end to 2020, this encounter has taken on extra significance for their respective managers.
Two goal-shy outfits are therefore set to play out a cagey affair, with Brighton keeping a greater share of the ball, but Wolves snatching a winner as more space appears late in the game.
Top betting tip
Jonathan O'Shea
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Brighton & Hove Albion win with a probability of 36.56%. A win for Wolverhampton Wanderers had a probability of 35.94% and a draw had a probability of 27.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Brighton & Hove Albion win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.79%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.93%) and 2-0 (6.58%). The likeliest Wolverhampton Wanderers win was 0-1 (10.67%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.01%). The actual scoreline of 3-3 was predicted with a 0.8% likelihood.
