Who will secure the first points of the new season?

On Sunday, 25.08.24, Wolverhampton Wanderers will face Chelsea FC in the English top flight. The objectives of the two teams are far apart, because while the visitors want to play for the Champions League, the home side will most likely have to look towards the bottom of the table. That’s why the bookmakers’ odds in the Wolverhampton vs Chelsea betting tip clearly favor an away win

In addition, the squad analysis also clearly favors the visiting team. Wolves lost important players, were barely able to upgrade and have a market value of 356 million euros. The Blues look much better, because with a squad value of €1.09 billion, the individual class is naturally much higher. In addition, FCC have been able to keep all their key players and strengthen their squad selectively. The Wolverhampton vs Chelsea odds for a home win are therefore not set so high for no reason

In our search for value, one betting odds in particular caught our eye. In our Wolverhampton vs Chelsea prediction, we are therefore leaning towards: “Both teams to score – No”. This is mainly due to the Blues’ good performance against Manchester City. There, Enzo Maresca’s team hardly conceded anything and only allowed the reigning champions to create one great chance. Since Wolves are quite limited offensively, this bet is a good one

Kick-off for this match is at 15:00 on Sunday at the Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton. The match will be refereed by English referee Darren England. The match can be watched live and in full on Sky or Wow.

Wolverhampton – statistics & current form

Wolverhampton will not have been particularly satisfied with the past season, as Gary O’Neil’s team finished 14th with just 46 points from 38 games. This was Wolves’ worst final position since promotion in 2018, which is why their targets for the coming season will have to be set a little lower and their focus will be on relegation at the earliest opportunity. The home side will probably only start thinking about greater ambitions once they have achieved their target

Wolverhampton with opening defeat

Wolves had to travel to London for their opener and faced Arsenal FC. Wolverhampton found it very difficult to get going and conceded 0:1 in the 25th minute, but Gary O’Neil’s team then got into the game a little better and created their first major chance before half-time. The Wolves then increased the pressure in the second half, but failed to create any goalscoring opportunities worth mentioning. In the 74th minute, Saka put the lid on it and increased the final score to 2:0

The departures of Neto and Kilman
The summer has not been a success for Wolverhampton so far, as they lost two very important players with the departures of Pedro Neto (Chelsea FC) and Max Kilman (West Ham United). In return, however, the club took in a rumored €107.5 million and thus filled its own bank account. However, the management has not yet been able to present adequate replacements. With Tommy Doyle, Rodrigo Gomes, Pedro Lima, Jorgen Strand Larsen and Tawanda Chirewa, only supplementary players have been signed. Overall, there has been more of a downgrade in this transfer window

Wolverhampton limited offensively

With 50 goals in 38 league games (⌀ 1.31), Wolves had one of the weakest offenses in the Premier League last season. Sheffield United, Everton, Burnley and Nottingham Forest were the only four teams to find the back of the net less often. There is no single reason for the poor goal tally, as Wolverhampton were shockingly poor in all attacking statistics. With the aforementioned Pedro Neto, the hosts also lost one of their most important attacking players, meaning there is no improvement in sight

Wolverhampton stumble

The offense rarely manages to relieve the pressure on its own defense and that is also reflected in the numbers. Wolverhampton conceded 65 goals last season, putting them 13th in the league, and Gary O’Neil’s side kept a clean sheet just five times, keeping a clean sheet in just 13% of games. The departure of defensive boss kilman could see this already poor figure fall even further. All in all, the home side are facing a very difficult season.

Predicted Wolverhampton line-up:

Chelsea – Statistics & current form

It’s hard to sympathize with Chelsea FC in recent seasons, as the club’s current form can hardly be described in positive terms. Todd Boehly never lets a day go by without a new rumor emerging or a transfer being finalized. As a result, Enzo Maresca currently has 43 players in the squad and could therefore field two teams. This naturally causes internal unrest, as established players such as Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell are suddenly being discarded by the coach

Chelsea suffer bitter opening defeat

In the first PL game of the new season, the new coach nevertheless managed to put a powerful team on the pitch and demanded a lot from reigning champions Manchester City. The 2-0 defeat was even unfortunate in the end, as Chelsea FC were no worse. The FCC should be able to achieve the desired results once things settle down a little. During the week, the visitors were at least able to celebrate a commanding 2-0 victory against Servette Geneva in the Conference League qualifiers

Young Player of the Year – Cole Palmer

Despite the many changes and the fluctuating performances, there is one constant in Chelsea FC’s play. Cole Palmer was the outstanding player of pre-season and therefore deservedly won the Young Player of the Year Award. The 22-year-old Englishman scored 33 points in the Premier League alone, making him the top scorer in the English top flight. For this reason, his contract was recently extended until 2033, tying the youngster to the club for another nine years – simply incredible. However, Palmer picked up a minor injury against Servette Geneva during the week, but should now be fit again

Chelsea are unstoppable

With 77 goals in 38 games (⌀ 2.03), the Blues had one of the best offenses in the Premier League last season. In fact, only four teams found the net more often. With new signings such as Marc Guiu, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, they could even improve on their good goal tally this season. In addition, Chelsea FC missed 73 big chances in pre-season and could therefore also improve significantly in terms of “efficiency.”

The Blues’ problem area

While the offense already performed at the highest level last season, the defense lacked the necessary consistency. This resulted in 63 goals conceded in 38 PL games, an average of 1.66 goals conceded per game. In addition, new coach Enzo Maresca’s team only kept a clean sheet eight times, conceding at least one goal in 79% of games. However, Chelsea were also able to add to their tally with Tosin Adarabioyo and Renato Veiga. It will therefore be interesting to see whether FCC can stabilize.

Predicted Chelsea line-up:

Wolverhampton – Chelsea head-to-head comparison / H2H record

The direct comparison reads differently than expected. Wolves won 43 duels against Chelsea and thus only one game less than the Blues. The remaining 30 encounters therefore ended in a draw. To everyone’s surprise, the Wanderers have even won the last three meetings. However, this does not shake our Wolverhampton vs Chelsea prediction, as the tide should have turned, especially after the summer transfers

Wolverhampton – Chelsea prediction

After our detailed analysis, we come to the conclusion that the FCC is rightly favored. The Blues are on a completely different level individually and also have more width. In addition, Enzo Maresca’s team impressed against Manchester City, while Wolves looked rather pale in the game against Arsenal. For this reason, we recommend a win for the visiting team between Wolverhampton and Chelsea. Wolves’ winning streak will be snapped this weekend

Alternatively, we recommend the odds for under 3.5 goals between Wolverhampton and Chelsea. This is primarily due to the fact that we don’t think the home side will score in this clash. On the other hand, Wolves will not allow themselves to be shot down either, so we expect a maximum of three goals in total. In the last seven meetings, there have only been more than three goals scored twice. The best odds for this betting tip can be found at the bookmaker we tested, Bet365