Wolves vs. Liverpool, 17:00
Wolves had a pretty poor start to the season that saw them losing their first three matches and as a result they weren’t considered as a team that would really feature this season. However, Bruno Lage’s men have now only lost once in their last nine EPL matches and they are quietly making their way up the ladder. They now find themselves in sixth place with 21 points and have managed to keep their hopes of playing in Europe next season alive. Despite being the third lowest scoring team in the league with just 12 goals, Wolves have been able to amass points largely thanks to a tight defensive outfit that have helped them secure draws in matches where they struggled to find the net, as well as helped them to secure victory by protecting a narrow lead in matches where they have just been able to score once or twice. Saturday will be a real tough test for this Wolves defensive against a Liverpool side that are the highest scoring team in the league. It will be up to the defense to restrict the Reds as much as possible and even just restricting them to a goal or two would be a massive achievement for Wolves. It’s going to be tough, but if they manage to somehow pass this test on Saturday it would be a huge confidence booster for Wolves and they will be well on their way to a spot in the Top 5. Some of Wolves’ recent results include a goalless draw at home to Burnley, another goalless draw away to Norwich, a 1-0 win at home to West Ham, a 2-0 loss away to Crystal Palace and a 2-1 win at home to Everton.
After suffering their first loss to West Ham just under a month ago, the Reds have bounced back in emphatic fashion with comfortable wins in all of their three matches since. The most recent of these was a 4-1 win in the Merseyside Derby against Everton on Wednesday which allowed them to stay in third place on the table with 31 points, right on the heels of Manchester City and just two points behind league-leaders Chelsea. Klopp’s men are back to their top form once again and right now they are looking like a very difficult team to defeat. They have scored a total of 43 goals this season and are averaging a whopping three goals per match which is far better than any other team in the league, while their defense has not been too bad either with just 12 goals let in. Seven of these goals came in matches that they drew this season which just goes to show that even if their defense is a bit off on the day then their powerful attack is more than capable of making up for it. With the way that Chelsea and Manchester City are playing right now it’s certainly going to be a tough task for the Reds to get to the top of the table, but right now they are doing everything they need to keep themselves close to the top by making sure they pick up maximum points. And they are doing so in style as well!
Liverpool have totally dominated the last five matches between the two teams in the EPL with wins in all of them. The last time these two teams met was at the Molineux back in March this year where Liverpool managed a 1-0 victory. Although Wolves have managed two victories against the Reds in the FA Cup in the last five years they haven’t been able to pull off a win against Liverpool in the league since 2010. Draws also appear to be a rare occurrence between the two teams with only two draws between the sides in their history.
Prediction
Liverpool are obviously the better team going into this clash and I don’t think we are going to see any result other than a Liverpool win in this match. Wolves’ defense can be good at times, but keeping a clean sheet against a team like Liverpool is going to be a much bigger challenge than doing so against a team like Burnley or Norwich. Wolves did impress with their home win against West Ham, but they haven’t been able to follow up their success on that day which doesn’t give me any confidence that they will be able to even manage a point in this match. Liverpool are just too good at the moment and they have proved so by demolishing their opposition in their three clashes after their first loss of the season. I am expecting another dominant performance from Klopp’s men and it won’t surprise me to see them secure another win by at least a two goal margin. The only reason I am not expecting another three to four goal victory is because Wolves have not lost an EPL match this season by a margin greater than two goals. I am going to back Liverpool to win and over 2.5 goals. Although I am not so confident about Wolves scoring, I will have a crack at both teams to score which is just under even money and for goalscorers I will have a bet on Diogo Jota to score in the match who is in fine form right now with four goals in his last three matches for Liverpool.
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