English Premier
2026-02-07 - Wolves vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 7th February 2025 - Kick Off 3pm
Wolves
There has been character shown as younger players have been given an opportunity to put some Premier League experience into the legs, but any late rally towards safety is continuing to look unlikely. Another home defeat suffered by Wolves last weekend will have felt like a bitter blow and the first ambition is still targeting at least 12 points to surpass Derby County's record low in this Division.
The 0-2 defeat to Bournemouth leaves Wolves in 20th place in the Premier League table and with 8 points on the board so there is still some real motivation to finish this campaign as strongly as possible. Rob Edwards has to like some of the performances his team have produced, although it is clear that Wolves have lacked the quality needed at both ends of the pitch. The side have a 1-2-9 record at Molineux in the top flight following the latest loss here.
Wolves had been unbeaten in 5 games in all competitions and 4 of those results had been in the Premier League, but have since suffered consecutive 2-0 defeats to Manchester City and Bournemouth. They had beaten West Ham United and Shrewsbury Town in back to back home games before holding Newcastle United to a goalless draw, but that mini-Wolves run has come to a conclusion last Saturday.
Ladislav Krejci is hoping to be available this weekend, which would leave Toti as the only absentee.
Chelsea
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and so Liam Rosenior had to know that he would be criticised for the approach taken to the League Cup Semi Final Second Leg at Arsenal on Tuesday. With his Chelsea team trailing, Rosenior sought to make things difficult for the Premier League leaders and then hope to guide Chelsea to a late goal that could have forced Extra Time and given his team the best chance to progress to the Final.
The plan worked for the first half and Chelsea had several attacking players on the pitch as the second half wound down, but failure means some are wondering if the manager had 'wasted' too much time. Liam Rosenior cannot spend too much time worrying about that now and instead he takes 5th placed Chelsea into an important period where The Blues will be looking to press into the top four places in the Champions League race.
Chelsea had won 5 in a row in all competitions, but conceded with virtually the last kick of the game to lost 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night. Prior to that result, Chelsea had won 3 away games in all competitions and scored 11 goals in that time, including winning 1-3 at Selhurst Park in the only away Premier League game played under Rosenior's guidance.
Reece James and Pedro Neto were surprisingly missing on Tuesday and both will be hoping the extra time off has them ready and available for this fixture. Jamie Gittens is a doubt and the likes of Cole Palmer will be pushing to be restored to the starting lineup.
Head to Head
Three second half goals saw Chelsea beat Wolves comfortably at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.
A much changed Chelsea starting eleven almost blew a 0-3 lead at Molineux in the League Cup in October, but they did eventually prevail 3-4.
That result means Chelsea have won on their last 2 visits to Molineux, including beating Wolves 2-6 here last season.
Prediction
The supporters will always be hugely disappointed when beating by a rival in a Cup Semi Final, but Chelsea's board and management staff will still believe there is plenty to achieve this season.
Losing a manager midway through a campaign is never ideal, but credit has to be given to Liam Rosenior for the early results under his tenure. The defeats to Arsenal in both Legs of the League Cup Semi Final will hurt, but you have to credit the manager with some of the tactical flexibility shown and Chelsea have to feel they would have been a lot better if the likes of Reece James and Pedro Neto had also been available.
Excuses cannot be used for too long and especially not with a squad that has had as much money spent on it as Chelsea have done.
They will be looking to bounce back from that League Cup defeat as effectively as they did after the First Leg- following that home loss, Chelsea won 5 in a row in all competitions and that has seen them firmly in the race for a return to the Champions League, while progressing in this season's competition and also in the FA Cup.
The away wins behind strong attacking performances at Napoli and Crystal Palace will give Chelsea plenty of confidence to take into this fixture against the bottom club.
Rob Edwards would have arrived as manager of Wolves under no real illusion as to the size of the task he was taking over in trying to keep the club in the Premier League.
Most associated with Wolves have long felt the quality was not there for a sustained push up the League standings and that is how it has panned out.
However, credit has to be given to Edwards for some of the resiliency and character his Wolves team have shown in recent weeks when it would be easy to throw in the towel. Avoiding finishing with the lowest points tally in the Premier League is another motivation, but Wolves are just short of the quality needed at both ends of the pitch and that was evident in the 0-2 home defeat to Bournemouth last Saturday.
Wolves will offer some threat going forward and they will look to take the game to Chelsea, but it is going to be very difficult to contain the threat at the other end.
Under Liam Rosenior, Chelsea have found goals pretty easy to come by and the players are clearly feeling some confidence and desire to play for the new manager. That was underlined in comeback wins over Napoli and West Ham United in recent weeks and the attacking talent should see them over the line at Molineux.
In the last two visits to this ground, Chelsea have scored ten goals and they look very capable of scoring at least twice in a winning effort this weekend.
The Blues are back in action on Tuesday next week, but Liam Rosenior may look for the team to have a healthy lead before resting some of the key players for that next Premier League fixture and Chelsea should have too much for a club destined to drop into the second tier of English Football in the weeks ahead.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Wolves 1-3 Chelsea
