A clear win for Wolverhampton?
With the 2022 World Cup barely over, the next round of the Carabao Cup is already on the agenda in England.
A Wolverhampton vs. Gillingham betting tip might not be too difficult given the omens, as the hosts play three leagues higher.
So Wolves are the heavy favourites, and the bookmakers see it that way too. Everything points to a home win, but there is always a residual risk. Especially as Wolverhampton haven’t pulled up any trees yet this season and are at the bottom of the league.
Wolves’ season so far has also led to the hosts having a new coach. This one is called Julen Lopetegui, has a lot of experience and celebrates his debut as coach on the sidelines at the Molineux in this match. Kick-off is at 20:45 on Tuesday.
Wolverhampton – Statistics & current form
In recent years, Wolverhampton have always been known for being a very uncomfortable team to play against. A good defence distinguished the team, but offensively there was less together. The latter is also true in 2022/23, as the team has only scored eight goals in the Premier League so far. The problem is that the defence is a little more vulnerable and the points are simply missing.
Wolverhampton are currently in last place in the Premier League. So the new coach Lopetegui had to try to get the team back on track during the World Cup break. However, a “preparation” for the rest of the season came in very handy for the Spaniard, as he was able to get to know his team and develop a strategy for staying in the league. In terms of his style, he certainly fits in quite well with Wolves, now he has to make sure early on that there are the right results.
The host must counteract the form curve from before the World Cup break. After all, there was only one win in six competitive matches there. In the end, the team did not have too much self-confidence, despite good approaches in individual games, too little came out in the end.
Wolverhampton must play out their superiority
Perhaps an opponent like Gillingham comes in handy right now for the start of compulsory matches after the 2022 World Cup. Wolverhampton Wanderers, who play three leagues higher, will have the ball a lot and therefore also have the chance to rehearse procedures at competition level. That is why Wolverhampton are not likely to spare too many players, and the team did not have many World Cup players.
In this match it will be very important to play forward from the beginning. In the test matches in preparation for the rest of the season, attacker Hwang stood out in particular, he has almost always scored recently. The question of the formation will also be interesting. A five-man backline, as preferred recently, is likely to be too defensive for Lopetegui in general and especially in this game.
Due to the clear superiority in the individual area, our prediction before the match between Wolverhampton and Gillingham is that the hosts will take a start-finish victory.
Predicted line-up of Wolverhampton:
José Sa – Semedo, Kilman, Collins, Ait-Nouri – Traoré, Ronan, Moutinho – Adama, Podence, Hwang
Last matches played by Wolverhampton:
Club friendlies
14/12/2022 – Cadiz 3 – 4 Wolverhampton
09/12/2022 – Empoli 1 – 1 Wolverhampton
Premier League
13/11/2022 – Wolverhampton 0 – 2 Arsenal FC
Carabao Cup
10/11/2022 – Wolverhampton 1 – 0 Leeds
Premier League
05/11/2022 – Wolverhampton 2 – 3 Brighton
Gillingham – Statistics & current form
Gillingham FC play in the fourth-tier League Two, three leagues below the Premier League. Despite this difference, there is one thing in common with the hosts. Both teams are bottom of their league. 14 points from 20 games, only two wins in that time: that’s how disastrous the record looks up to this point. So things are not going well in the domestic league, but that does not apply to the cup competition.
Here, the guests have already survived three rounds. In the first round they won against Wimbledon, then against Exeter and in the previous round Gillingham won on penalties away at Brentford, a Premier League club. That should be a warning to Wolverhampton not to underestimate this opponent.
Moreover, the last competitive match was barely 14 days ago, where the team qualified for the 3rd round in the FA Cup. So the games in the cup competitions seem to suit Gillingham quite well. And this despite the fact that the team hardly houses any well-known players in the squad, the big names are not to be found.
Gillingham want to surprise again
So the aim is clear, Gillingham want to surprise the next club from the Premier League. To do so, the typical basic virtues are needed. They have to work well defensively, every player needs a good form on the day and mistakes have to be compensated as soon as possible. However, the visitors are also fighting against their own away record. In League Two, they have not yet won a match away from home, only in the cup.
Of course, the outsiders will start with their best possible line-up. For the most part, Gillingham have been playing with a 4-5-1 system this season, and that will be the method of choice this time as well. This allows the team to be very compact defensively and at the same time to have personnel for the transitional game.
A lot of things have to go right for a close game to be the result. Due to the big differences in quality, our value tip before the Wolverhampton vs. Gillingham match is that the hosts will win by more than two goals difference.
Predicted line-up of Gillingham:
Turner – Wright, Ehmer, Baggott, Tutonda – Williams, Jefferies, Adelakun, Green, Reeves – Walker
Last matches played by Gillingham:
FA Cup
09/12/2022 – Gillingham 3 – 2 Dag and Red
League Two
03/12/2022 – Gillingham 0 – 3 Salford City
FA Cup
26/11/2022 – Dag and Red 1 – 1 Gillingham
League Two
23/11/2022 – Crawley 0 – 0 Gillingham
19/11/2022 – Newport 2 – 0 Gillingham
Wolverhampton – Gillingham Direct comparison / H2H record
Eleven times the two teams have played each other so far. Wolverhampton Wanderers lead the comparison with five wins. Four times Gillingham managed to walk off the pitch as winners.
Wolverhampton – Gillingham Tip
Apart from the poor season so far, everything actually speaks for Wolverhampton. The team is better staffed, plays much higher and also Gillingham has its problems this season, which are anything but small.
Because of these omens, our tip before the match Wolverhampton vs. Gillingham is that the hosts will take a start-finish victory.
