English Premier
2026-01-31 - Wolves vs Bournemouth
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 31st January 2025 - Kick Off 3pm
Wolves
Rob Edwards helped Wolves end their search for a Premier League win and the team have been picking up some consistent points, which may have given optimistic supporters hope that a miraculous survival bid could be put together. The performances have been stronger over the last month, but Wolves were in a big hole early and the likes of Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and West Ham United have all picked up vital points to leave Wolves staring at relegation.
The side are bottom of the Premier League table and Wolves have secured 8 points, which now means being 17 points from safety and with just 45 points left to play for. The real disappointment for Wolves is the 1-2-8 home record, which has given them little real hope of avoiding the drop back into the second tier of English Football.
Wolves had been unbeaten in 5 games in all competitions before losing 2-0 at Manchester City last weekend. They snapped a 6 game losing run at home by crushing West Ham United 3-0 and Wolves have followed up by beating Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup Third and holding Newcastle United to a goalless draw here.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is hoping to be involved for the home team, while this could be the last time Jorgen Strand Larsen wears the famous old gold shirt.
Bournemouth
Injuries have stretched the Andoni Iraola options and it looked like it was going to be costly as his Bournemouth team blew a 2-0 lead over Liverpool and were pegged back to 2-2. It looked like Bournemouth had rallied any late push the visitors had in trying to earn the three points, but they did even more by going up the other end and scoring a late winner instead.
It is an important win for Bournemouth who moved up into 13th place in the Premier League table and have importantly kept a 10 point buffer between themselves and the bottom three places. The Cherries have a 1-5-5 record away from the Vitality Stadium in the Premier League this season.
Bournemouth had won 1 of the last 14 games in all competitions, but matched the 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur by beating Liverpool by the same scoreline last Saturday. Both wins were at the Vitality Stadium and Bournemouth have not won any of the last 10 away games in all competitions, although they have lost 1 of the last 5 in normal time.
David Brooks could be available this weekend. Bournemouth have been active in the transfer window, but some of the new signings may not be quite ready to start.
Head to Head
An early goal was all that was needed for Bournemouth to beat Wolves 1-0 at home earlier this season.
They have also enjoyed recent trips to Molineux and Bournemouth will be looking for a fourth straight win at the home of Wolves.
Prediction
Credit has to be given to the Wolves players and Coaching staff for the way the team have been performing over the last few weeks, although the horrific start means relegation remains inevitable.
Rob Edwards will already be preparing for life back in the Championship and there are some younger players being given extended minutes.
Wolves could be active in the transfer market before the close of the January transfer window, although the likelihood is that there will be more players leaving than arriving.
The 2-0 defeat at Manchester City snapped a 5 game unbeaten run, but Wolves have to believe they can test a Bournemouth team that continue to concede a lot goals. They have not scored in the last couple of League games, but Wolves will feel this is a step down compared with matches against Pep Guardiola's team and Newcastle United and that should mean the home side at least get forward and look to put Bournemouth under pressure.
Another 3-2 home win has just maintained a solid lead over West Ham United in the final relegation place and Andoni Iraola will want his Bournemouth team to use that victory over Liverpool as a momentum starter.
However, it should be said that Bournemouth have not been nearly as good or convincing away from home as they have been at the Vitality Stadium and that could be an issue this weekend.
Of course the team have some good memories of matches against Wolves with 3 straight wins at Molineux and a home win against them in August- many of the key players involved are out of action at the moment though and Wolves do look capable of earning a positive result.
Beating Bournemouth will not be easy considering The Cherries have drawn 4 of the last 5 away games played in all competitions in normal time.
With that said, the draw could be the real player in this one, but both teams will want to get on the front foot where they can.
Instead of backing any of the options in the win-draw-win market, it may pay to back Mateus Mane to continue his decent showings for Wolves.
The 18 year old has been fast tracked into the first team squad and Mateus Mane has had plenty of shots, while last weekend snapped a solid run of having at least one Shot on Target. He looks a decent enough price to find at least one this week, while risk takers could back Mateus Mane to either score or assist at 2.75.
Picking a winner is not easy- there should be goals in this Premier League fixture, but Wolves have lost a bit of momentum and so the better approach may be backing the teenager playing in attacking areas to add to his Shots on Target number.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Wolves 1-1 Bournemouth
