Wolves v Stoke stats and predict this week's results

League form (last five matches)
X=Score draw, D=No Score draw, W= Win

Wolves: DDXLW
Stoke: LLDWL

Top goalscorer last season (league): Doyle 9,  Etherington 5
Most assists least season (league):  Jarvis 5, Etherington 9
Most appearances (league): Henry 34, Delap & Whitehead 36
Average Attendance: Wolves 28365, Stoke 27162

Head to Head: Last ten games

Wins: Wolves 2, Stoke 2
Draws: Wolves 6, Stoke 6
Goals: Wolves 12, Stoke 11

It's been very even in recent years against Stoke, we have the slight advantage with one more goal than Stoke but expect Saturday's game to be very even. At most I see either team winning by a single goal.

Prediction League:

For this season I will be running a Premier League prediction league. Anyone can enter, at any time of the season. Obviously to have more of a chance you will want to do this regularly. Here is the points system:

5 points for correct result
10 points for correct score

We know who to watch out for.

3 points for each correct scorer


Here are the fixtures

Aston Villa v West Ham
Blackburn v Everton
Bolton v Fulham
Chelsea v West Brom
Liverpool v Arsenal
Man Utd v Newcastle
Sunderland v Birmingham
Tottenham v Man City
Wigan v Blackpool
Wolves v Stoke

The prize for the winner of this competition is a signed Wolves football!

Here are my predictions (My predictions will be made into a league to see how it looks compared to the real league)


Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham
Blackburn 1-2 Everton
Bolton 1-0 Fulham
Chelsea 2-0 West Brom
Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal
Man Utd 1-0 Newcastle
Sunderland 3-1 Birmingham
Tottenham 1-1 Man City
Wigan 1-0 Blackpool
Wolves 1-1 Stoke

Who's that handsome fella?

Last Thursday, Wolves let Young Wolves members into the ground to see the players at the photo shoot. Afterwards the players would come and have pictures with the players. I was there, and got a picture (with my brothers) with a few of the players and Mick McCarthy.

Mick also announced his four new signings

My youngest brother Charlie got a little telling off by Mick for not holding his t-shirt out straight when he was signing it. A story he will probably tell everyone for years.

Matt Murray is the nicest bloke you've ever met. They were calling him back for ages but he kept saying 'Let me just do these last ones' and would go on for another five minutes. Stephen Hunt is a scruffy looking git, and Greg Halford kept sneaking into my pictures!

It was a good day, as I was able to get my football signed by quite a few . Murray, Kightly, Van Damme, Halford, Ikeme, Foey and Mick signed it. I'm hoping to use it as a prize for a competition. I have one or two ideas but if you have any don't hesitate to comment and tell me!

Wolves 2 Athletic Bilbao 1

Not a bad way to finish off pre-season.

It was good to see Foley playing in his real position, he put in a typically assured performance. Christophe Berra had a solid game along with Craddock which isn't a surprise. Fletcher looks worth every penny of the fee we paid Burnley for him. He's good in the air and linked up with Ebanks-Blake on numerous occasions.

It wasn't all rosy though. There were unfortunately, a couple of negatives. I came expecting to see a proper left back playing for Wolves, but Jelle Van Damme wasn't very convincing. Too often he would watch as the Bilbao winger would cross it and he gave him way too much space. It was worrying that we looked better defensively after he was pushed up to left midfield and Big George Elokobi came in at left back. Jelle was however, unbeatable in the air. He won almost every high ball, when attacking and defending.

Stephen Ward played left wing. He wasn't much use there to be honest, and I was glad when he was taken off at half time. He hasn't got the pace to play out there, and looks more comfortable at left back. Van Damme was much better than him there, a lot more positive on the ball and getting behind the full back.

Karl Henry and David Jones didn't have very good games. Henry gave the ball away in terrible positions and Jones looked more interested in having a fight than playing. Matty Jarvis was our bright spark on the right, although he didn't look quite as confident as he does on the left he was still the focal point of all our attacks.

Some of the players who came off the bench did much to catch Mick's eye. I already mentioned Elokobi, he balanced out the defence but he did his usual 'mis-control the ball and let it out for a throw in'. Greg Halford was impressive. He looked eager to receive the ball, kept it moving and of course caused some problems with his throw ins. Andy Keogh provided the work upfront and had a part in Sylvan's winning goal.

Overall, we were ok. Much better in the second half, with a very good goal in the first half.

Hahnemann - 7

Foley - 7
Craddock - 7
Berra - 8
Van Damme  - 6

Jarvis - 8
Henry - 6
Jones - 6
Ward - 6

Fletcher - 8
Ebanks-Blake - 7

Very special mention to the forty odd Bilbao fans who were brilliant. The Mexican wave they started went on for ages and they were surprisingly loud.

Hoff he goes

Stefan Maierhofer has joined German club Duisburg. He joins them on a season long loan which could turn permanent if he impresses.

He found chances in the Wolves team hard to come by last season, only starting once in the league in that match at Old Trafford.

Given a fair chance?

He scored on his Wolves debut at Blackburn, and in his next appearance was unfairly sent off. He went on loan to Bristol but hardly played, having to play in goal in one of his few appearances for them.

I never thought he was given a fair chance. At 6ft 8in, he was brought in as a big man but Mick found out soon that he wasn't really an aerial threat. Hard working, and could have become a cult hero but never played a full game. In the one appearance I saw him at a game, when he came on against Everton I was impressed. He got stuck in, was positive on the ball and annoyed the hell out of the Everton defenders, getting  punched by Tim Howard. In the game when Mick made ten changes I thought he did ok, holding up the ball well but Wolves fans had by then agreed he wasn't good enough.

His Wolves career isn't completely over, but it doesn't look like he'll be playing for us again. I'll be looking out for how he does.

4-4-2 or 4-5-1?

It's always been hard to tell what is going on in Mick McCarthy's head. I guess Merlin has his own spell to stop anyone finding out.

A lot of debate between Wolves fans has been about what formation Wolves will start with against Stoke. Many point out that it's 4-5-1 that kept us up, taking a more solid look. If we were to use that formation we would probably have a three man forward line of Fletcher, Doyle and Jarvis which does seem very tasty as they would be given licence to attack and with three centre midfielders behind them not have to worry too much about the defensive side of their games.

However, a 4-4-2 would mean Doyle and Fletcher up front together. We have seen glimpses of a partnership and with these two playing with each other we might see quite a few goals.  Would that mean restricting Jarvis though? It would mean he would have to track back more than we might want him to. But, 4-4-2 is what got us to the promised land in the first place and we scored so many goals that year.

I have a feeling he will go with 4-4-2, to start with. After his comments about Foley playing midfield I think he will start right midfield. He would be a more defensive option and would mean that most of our attacks would be based around the left hand side until Kightly is fit as he's not likely to run at his marker. When Kightly is fit that 4-4-2 is very exciting, with two proper wingers I don't think many defences will be able to cope with them.

 If you think about it, a 4-4-2 with Foley is a bit like a 4-3-3. Foley will tuck in more and Jarvis will be further forward almost making him a third forward along side Fletcher and Doyle. Jones likes to play slightly left anyway.

On paper, I think we will start with something like this:

Jarvis - Will be key again this year

Hahnemann

Zubar
Craddock
Berra
Van Damme

Foley
Henry
Jones
Jarvis

Doyle
Fletcher

Who knows though, I could be very wrong. What team do you think we will go with, comment!