Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United head into Saturday's Premier League fixture at Molineux having suffered successive defeats.
While the West Midlands outfit have lost back-to-back league games against Liverpool and Watford respectively, the Magpies have gone three games without registering a single point.
Match preview
© Reuters
Wolves have endured a rollercoaster run of late, with comeback wins over Norwich City and Manchester City being followed by defeats against Liverpool and Watford.
Like with most clubs placed between fifth and 10th, Wolves will feel that they should be placed higher than their current seventh position, but they have the chance to make significant ground on their rivals this weekend.
Nuno Espirito Santo will hope that having no fixture in midweek will serve his over-worked side well, with several players looking jaded during the goalless draw with Manchester United in the FA Cup.
The Portuguese has acknowledged that the club are actively looking to bring in fresh faces before the end of the month, especially in light of Jesus Vallejo returning to Real Madrid and Patrick Cutrone seemingly likely to sign for a Serie A club.
However, for now at least, Nuno must keep faith in his small group of players as they embark on a run of four matches in 12 days, which includes trips to Man United and Southampton before hosting leaders Liverpool.
As far as Newcastle are concerned, Steve Bruce has also been forced to work with limited options as a result of a packed treatment room, with just 15 senior players being available for last weekend's FA Cup tie at Rochdale.
While some first-team members are due to return this weekend, match sharpness is an issue - something which is not ideal when the Magpies are attempting to end a four-match winless run in all competitions.
Bruce's team were booed off after their second-half performance led to a 1-1 draw being recorded at Spotland - a result which occurred after nine goals were conceded in matches against Man United, Everton and Leicester City respectively.
Those setbacks have contributed to Newcastle dropping to within five points of the relegation zone, putting Bruce under pressure to get back to winning ways and ease any pressure on keeping his job at St James' Park in the long term.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form: DLWWLL
Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions): LWWLLD
Newcastle United Premier League form: WLWLLL
Newcastle United form (all competitions): LWLLLD
Team News
© Reuters
Having made changes for the game with Man United, Nuno will revert back to his tried-and-trusted team for Saturday's game.
The one alteration to his usual lineup is likely to be Pedro Neto for Diogo Jota, who has been suffering with a thigh problem.
While a number of Newcastle players are closing in on a return, Bruce could have as many as a dozen players absent for the trip to Molineux.
Given their potential shortage at the back, Isaac Hayden could deputise in the centre, leaving Sean Longstaff and Matty Longstaff to feature in the middle of the pitch.
Miguel Almiron and Andy Carroll are hoping to be back in contention after recent injuries, but Jonjo Shelvey and Allan Saint-Maximin remain sidelined.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Patricio; Dendoncker, Coady, Saiss; Doherty, Moutinho, Neves, Jonny; Traore, Jimenez, Neto
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Yedlin, Hayden, Fernandez, Lejeune, Krafth; Ritchie, M.Longstaff, S.Longstaff, Atsu; Joelinton
We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Newcastle United
Given their respective results, we expect a tight encounter at Molineux. While both teams will fancy their chances of ending their recent poor run, we think that the two sides will cancel each other out in a low-scoring draw.
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 win with a probability of 58.44%. A draw had a probability of 23% and a win for had a probability of 18.57%.
The most likely scoreline for a win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.15%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.89%) and 2-1 (9.79%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.92%), while for a win it was 0-1 (6.1%).
