Wolves up for titanic battle

Here's an article sent to me by Will.

Wolves need to work incredibly hard if they want to pull themselves clear of the Premier League bottom three as they have one hell of a month ahead of them.

Mick McCarthy's men ended a run of four successive defeats last weekend, but even then they only scraped a draw against the team at the bottom of the table, and West Ham could have got a winner as their forwards wasted chances and had a goal controversially ruled out near the end.

It looks increasingly likely that Wolves could be marooned in the Premier League relegation places in the coming weeks. They face Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal in their next four games - and given their recent form the Premier League betting suggests Wolves face a monumental task.

McCarthy has called for his men to "be ready" for what the teams fighting for Premier League title will throw at them. But one of his players thinks it is not out of the realms of possibility that Wolves could create a stir and take points off the big teams.

Striker Kevin Doyle claims the club "should have got something" in the matches at Molineux against Chelsea and Manchester United last season, so they have no need the opposition in the coming month.

"We definitely improved against the bigger teams as the season went on," he said.

"We've got a run of games against some of the best players in the world. It's exciting for us and if we can get something from the games, it will be a bonus."

All four sides are Premier League tips for the title, but the pressure will be off Wolves and that may help their chances.

McCarthy himself said he was not scared of the coming run of games, issuing a rallying cry for his players to "get something" off their more illustrious rivals. That does seem unlikely however and many fans could fear if the club are adrift in the Premier League relegation battle in a month's time.

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Chelsea v Wolves Preview

The run we'd been worrying about for weeks starts here. Away at the champions.

They started as they left off, scoring goals, goals, goals. West Brom and Wigan both conceded six against them, both teams considerably higher in the league than us. Of course, they couldn't carry on scoring like that all the time and the goals have dried up in the last three leagues games, scoring just two. They'll still be in a confident mood, rightly so as they face a team with one win in eight.

It's difficult to know what on earth the side will be at Stamford Bridge. No Henry, no Mancienne and no Guedioura in the middle. Does Foley take the holding midfield role? If so, then who goes to right back? I get the feeling Van Damme might be set for a role in the middle of midfield. He'll have a lot of work of work to do against some of the best midfielders in the world.

Stephen Hunt looks like he'll play a part too, I reckon he'll join Van Damme in the middle at some point. Him and Jones can be the players we get the ball too for some kind of creativity while Van Damme looks after the defence. I hate to say it, but Fletcher will be on the wing. I'd rather have Doyle out there, as he is more mobile but Mick seems to disagree. Doyle and Jarvis will complete the attack. If we are to get something from this game, we need these two to cause the Chelsea defence some problems.

Team:

Hahnemann

Foley
Stearman
Berra
Ward

Fletcher
Edwards
Van Damme
Jones
Jarvis

Doyle

Mick might go for something completely different though. It would be a huge shock, but maybe young David Davis who is travelling after returning from Walsall will get a game. This will be a huge test of how we can do over the next few weeks, I expect a decent performance but Chelsea to break us down eventually. 3-1.

Prediction League: Want to win a signed Wolves football?

We had plenty new people predicting this week! Keep 'em coming.

While Wolves1992 still tops the league, it's second that scored the most points this week. Bob China has reduced the lead at the top to 38 points.

 Here are this week's fixtures:

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

Good luck!

Wolves look for cup run

Here's another article sent to me by Thomas Rooney.

So the draw for the League Cup fourth round is in, and it’s Wolves who have been gifted the glamorous tie at Old Trafford. For lower league teams, this is the draw that all the fans (and increasingly, the chairmen) have been praying for, but Wolves may be forgiven any feelings of regret at not having been drawn against the likes of Northampton Town or Ipswich.

And no disrespect to those sides, but with the job facing Mick McCarthy’s men this season in the Premiership, a cup-run could be just what the doctor ordered – but if this is to materialise, it seems they will have to do it the hard way.

Carling Cup betting pundits note how Manchester United will almost certainly continue with their policy of squad rotation, despite heavy criticism following their dour 0-0 draw with Rangers in the Champions’ League, but will still fancy their chances against a Wolves team struggling for form, and more importantly, goals.

Having previously beaten Southend and Notts County, despite both games requiring extra time, it looked as though Wolves may have fancied themselves in this competition – especially having seen the likes of Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool all eliminated in the last round.

But Manchester United at home have to be seen as strong favourites with Carling Cup Odds for both this tie and the whole competition, especially considering the manner of their comprehensive 5-2 victory away at Scunthorpe in the last round.

Wolves will be hoping to recall the previously injured Steven Hunt, who has been stuck on the sidelines for the last eight months with a broken foot, but with Manchester United’s strength in depth, and considering Michael Owen’s ruthlessness at Glanford Park, it seems likely that the current holders will be strong favourites to book their place in the quarter finals.


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Wolves hungry to show ability

This was sent to me by Will, from BetFair. It was sent a few days ago but I couldn't post it. Anyway, here it is:

Having had to sit back and listen to controversial Fulham skipper Danny Murphy argue that Wolves are too aggressive in their style of play, Wolves fans can nevertheless take pride in the fact that theirs is a side which has obviously got under the skin of a few of their Premier League rivals.

Despite enduring a difficult start to the season, Wolves are quite clearly capable of rising far further up the table than their current form suggests. However, they are facing a run of tough games against Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City, so it may be some time before Wolves stop being talked about as potential relegation candidates this season in the football predictions 

Should Wolves manage to pick up a few points from these upcoming fixtures, something that isn't altogether impossible bearing in mind the shock results seen already in the league this year, they will be able to carry a high level of confidence into their fixtures against sides which they will believe are more than capable of being defeated with relative ease.

However, even if, as the Wolves betting suggests may happen, the side come unstuck and find themselves on the wrong end of a few high-scoring games, their fans will take solace in the fact that the number of games left this season in which their team will be expected to come away with nothing has reduced drastically.

With sides such as Blackpool highly likely to find themselves hitting a dip in form sooner rather than later, and West Ham still failing to reach the heights that their owners clearly believe they are capable of, as long as Wolves can avoid losing their belief in their own ability they should stay up and start to become a lasting fixture in the Premier League, something that their fans could once only dream of.

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