Wolves vs. Chelsea, EPL Round 18, 19 December 16:00
Wolves vs. Chelsea, EPL Round 18, 19 December 16:00

Wolves appear to have avoided the EPL Covid breakout for now and will be at full strength as they head into their clash with the Blues on Sunday. The home team were last in action on Wednesday night in Brighton where they managed to hold on for a 1-0 win after finding the net late in the first half. Wednesday’s win comes as great relief for Nuno’s men who were on a four match winless streak and they now find themselves in eighth place on the table with 24 points. They managed to secure the win without their star striker Jimenez, but the Mexican will be back in action on Sunday which could help the hosts pull off a surprise result against a Chelsea team who are without a number of their players due to Covid. Wolves’ defense once again did an excellent job on Wednesday night and secured another clean sheet for their team. They now boast the fourth best defense in the league with only 14 goals let in this season, while their last five matches has only seen them letting in two goals. Sunday will be the next big test for their defense and if they can keep up their good work they might just be able to pick up a point in the clash.

Chelsea have not been so fortunate regarding the Covid outbreak in the EPL and a number of their players have been affected. Tuchel was unable to field the likes of Hudson-Odoi, Lukaku, Werner or Kovacic on Thursday against Everton and he will most likely not have them at his disposal on Sunday either. After a very disappointing draw at home against Everton on Thursday night it does appear that their performance is affected when these players are missing and it will be interesting to see if there will be more problems for the Blues in Sunday’s clash. Despite the draw on Thursday Tuchel’s men are still in third place on the table with 37 points, but they missed out on two undoubtedly valuable points against the Toffees and as a result there is now a gap of three points between themselves and Liverpool who are in second. The Blues are still struggling defensively after they let in so few goals during the first few months of the season. They conceded again on Thursday which now makes it five consecutive EPL games where they have failed to keep a clean sheet. Across these five matches they have conceded a total of nine goals which makes up a big chunk of the 12 goals they have conceded this whole season. The Blues need to stop letting in goals fast and they might have just been gifted a chance at a clean sheet on Sunday against Wolves who have are the second lowest scoring team in the league right now. If they fail to keep a clean sheet on Sunday against a low-scoring team like Wolves then it will surely be a worrying sign for the Londoners.

Chelsea narrowly leads the head-to-head battle between the two sides in their last five EPL matches. The Blues have won two, Wolves have won one and the remaining two matches ended in a draw. The last time the teams met was at Stamford Bridge in January this year where they played to a goalless draw. The last time the sides met at the Molineux was almost exactly one year ago to the day when Wolves pulled off a dramatic 2-1 win thanks to a goal right at the death. Chelsea’s overall record at the Molineux is not too shabby with five wins in eight matches across all leagues, while four out of the last five EPL clashes between the two teams has seen both teams scoring and over 2.5 goals.

Prediction

We saw on Thursday how the disruptions in Chelsea’s squad have affected their performance and this does not hold well for them. You could argue that they will be eager to bounce back after their disappointing draw against Everton, but at the same time their performance could still be affected until the disruptions are over. I think the latter is a more likely scenario and I think we are going to see another sub-par performance by Tuchel’s men. Even before the outbreak there were some issues affecting their defense and although it did not cost them any victories initially, it did on Thursday due to the disruptions in the team which led to a poor performance by their attack. Although so many of the past clashes between the two teams have seen over 2.5 goals I simply cannot see it happening again because I don’t believe Chelsea will be strong on attack, while at the same time Wolves have one of the weakest attacks in the league. For that reason I am going to back under 2.5 goals in the match and I am also going to have a dabble at Wolves on the double chance. Chelsea might be able to sneak a narrow win, but I think there is more value backing the home side to sneak a win or force a draw. I don’t think we are going to see a lot of goals in this match, but if Chelsea are going to score I will look no further than Mason Mount who has now extended his EPL scoring streak to four matches.

BetOlimp Best Bets

Double Chance: Wolves or Draw – 2.45
Total Goals: Total 2.5 Under – 1.78
First Goalscorer: Mason Mount – 4.80

 
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