Preview: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Brentford - prediction, team news, lineups

Still the only club in the top seven tiers of English football without a win this season, Premier League basement club Wolverhampton Wanderers welcome Brentford to Molineux on Saturday afternoon.

The two teams meet for the first time since May last season when Marshall Munetsi scored a second-half equaliser to rescue a 1-1 draw for the Old Gold on home soil.

Match preview

Not long after Wolves' owners admitted they got their summer transfer business wrong, Rob Edwards’s team battled hard to try to add to their woeful tally of just two Premier League points when they squared up against leaders Arsenal last weekend.

It looked as if the Old Gold would snatch a surprise point against the Gunners after Tolu Arokodare’s 90th-minute header cancelled out Sam Johnstone’s own goal, only for Yerson Mosquera to inadvertently turn the ball into his own net in stoppage time, leaving the visitors crestfallen and empty-handed.

Edwards was ‘proud’ but ‘hurt’ at full time, and not only has that defeat left Wolves rooted to the foot of the table and 14 points adrift of safety, their dismal winless run in the Premier League has been extended to 20 matches (D3 L17) – there have only been four longer runs in the division’s history, with just one of those runs coming without suffering relegation in between (Derby winless in their last 32 games in 2007-08).

Since holding Brighton to a 1-1 home draw on October 5, Wolves have lost each of their last nine Premier League matches, their longest losing run in their league history. Only three teams have ever lost 10 or more successive PL games within the same season - Norwich in 2019-20 (10), Aston Villa in 2015-16 (11) and Sunderland in 2002-03 (15).

Most teams would relish a return to home comforts, but Wolves are without a win in 10 league games at Molineux (D2 L8), their worst home run since going 12 without a win between December 2011 and May 2012, while they have also won just one of their four top-flight home meetings with Saturday’s opponents Brentford (D1 L2), beating them 2-0 in April 2023.

Brentford’s recent form is certainly not as woeful as Wolves’, but just one win has been posted across their last six games in all competitions (D1 L4) and they fell at the quarter-final stage of the EFL Cup for the second successive season on Wednesday night, losing 2-0 at Man City.

Keith Andrews was left rueing the referee’s controversial decision to show Abdukodir Khusanov only a yellow card for a last-man challenge with the score at 0-0. No VAR ultimately stung the Bees, who watched Rayan Cherki fire a sensational first-half opener into the top corner before Savinho’s deflected second-half strike sealed the win for City.

Brentford have no other choice but to shake off their cup disappointment and shift their focus to a run of five consecutive Premier League fixtures, with Andrews and co aiming to climb from their current position of 15th in the table and avoid slipping into the relegation picture.

The Bees were held to a frustrating 1-1 home draw by Leeds last weekend, conceding an 82nd-minute equaliser, and they have now dropped more points from winning positions than any other team in the Premier League this season (13).

Brentford’s away form leaves a lot to be desired ahead of Saturday’s trip to Molineux, as they have lost seven of their eight top-flight matches on the road this term (W1); only Wolves (17) have suffered defeat in more PL away matches than the Bees (15), who have lost their last four in a row, since the start of last season.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:

Brentford Premier League form:

Brentford form (all competitions):

Team News

Wolves will be without Rodrigo Gomes (groin), Marshall Munetsi (calf), Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (hamstring), Leon Chiwome (knee) and Daniel Bentley (ankle) due to injury, while Mosquera will serve a one-match suspension due to an accumlation of yellow cards.

Santiago Bueno and Ladislav Krejci are both contenders to replace Mosquera and join Emmanuel Agbadou and Toti Gomes in the back three. Krejci could also retain his starting spot in midfield alongside ever-present duo Joao Gomes and Andre.

No Wolves player has scored more goals in all competitions this season than Tolu Arokodare (three), whose equaliser against Arsenal last time out was his first Premier League goal since his summer arrival. The Nigerian will push Jorgen Strand Larsen from a start up front alongside Hwang Hee-chan.

As for Brentford, Josh Dasilva, Antoni Milambo, Fabio Carvalho (all knee) and Reiss Nelson (knock) all remain sidelined with injuries, while Burkina Faso’s Dango Ouattara and Nigeria’s Frank Onyeka are away on Africa Cup of Nations duty.

Igor Thiago - the Bees’ top scorer with 11 PL goals this season - and key midfielder Jordan Henderson both missed the midweek cup defeat with knocks. Andrews has revealed that both players are “not far off” and a late call is set to be made on their availability this weekend.

Kevin Schade is capable of starting as the central striker once again if needed, with Mikkel Damsgaard and Keane Lewis-Potter potentially providing support in the final third, while Caoimhin Kelleher and Aaron Hickey are both poised to earn recalled in goal and at left-back respectively.

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:

Johnstone; S. Bueno, Agbadou, Toti; Doherty, Gomes, Krejci, Andre, Wolfe; Arokodare, Hwang

Brentford possible starting lineup:

Kelleher; Kayode, Collins, Van den Berg, Hickey; Henderson, Yarmoliuk; Schade, Damsgaard, Lewis-Potter; Thiago

We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-3 Brentford

Despite their dismal form, Wolves will view this fixture against Brentford as a decent opportunity to end their long winless run, given that the Bees will not be at full strength and have struggled on the road for much of this season.

The potential return of Thiago and Henderson would provide a huge boost for Brentford, but even if they were to miss out again, the Bees should still have enough quality in their side to get the better of the hosts on this occasion.

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