Will Wolves make a complete mess of their season opener?

The third round of the EFL Cup takes place in England during the week. The best teams from the Premier League get into the action. Wolverhampton Wanderers are now in the mix to face Championship second division side Preston North End. Wolves need to win at all costs to avoid completely blowing their season opener

The Portuguese enclave has not had a great start to the new season in the Premier League. Bruno Lage’s team is still waiting for its first win of the new season. Actually, the Carabao Cup is a bit of the unloved stepchild of English football, but now Wolverhampton could use the opportunity to build momentum.

Twice Wolves have won this title to date. The last triumph in the League Cup, however, was 42 years ago. The Lilywhites, on the other hand, were the first English football champions in 1889, but PNE have never won the League Cup.

We agree with this assessment, especially as a first division club has to win the cup against an underclass club at their own stadium. However, even on the island, cup competitions have their own laws. Even if a surprise cannot be completely ruled out, we tend to bet on a home win in the match between Wolverhampton and Preston, perhaps even without conceding a goal.

Wolverhampton – Statistics & current form

Wolverhampton were already stingy with goals in preparation and even after the start of the season, Wolves show themselves to be toothless and harmless on the offensive. It is no secret that coach Bruno Lage still wants to sign an attacker who guarantees him goals. Currently, only one goal has been scored in the first three games in the Premier League.

Harmless Wolves

This also means Wolves have yet to win this season. One point from three games means they are currently only 17th in the Premier League, and Wolves are already being derided in England as the best team with no goalscoring threat. Sounds to us like the cup match between Wolverhampton and Preston should be scrutinised for odds of less than 2.5 goals.

Last weekend Wolves visited Tottenham Hotspurs in London and those who saw the game will credit Bruno Lage’s side with a good performance. The only problem was that they lacked penetrating power. Accordingly, one goal was enough for Spurs to win 1-0 at home, while Wolverhampton were again left empty-handed.

Bruno Lage will make a major rotation on Tuesday, but that is quite common in the League Cup. Nelson Semedo, Joao Moutinho and Raul Jimenez were all banged up but are likely to play from the start. Hee-Chan Hwang and keeper Matija Sarkic are also expected to be in the starting eleven. Chiquinho continues to be absent through injury. Willy Boly could move to Nottingham Forest at short notice and is only likely to get game time in a pinch.

Predicted Wolverhampton line-up:
Sarkic – Semedo, Mosquera, Toti, Ait-Nouri – Dendoncker, Moutinho, Cundle – Hwang, Jimenez, Campbell – Coach: Lage

Last matches played by Wolverhampton:

Premier League
20/08/2022 – Tottenham 1 – 0 Wolverhampton

13/08/2022 – Wolverhampton 0 – 0 Fulham

06/08/2022 – Leeds 2 – 1 Wolverhampton

Club Friendlies
01/08/2022 – Farense 1 – 1 Wolverhampton

31/07/2022 – Wolverhampton 1 – 1 Sporting CP

Preston – Statistics & current form

Unlike Wolves, Preston North End can be very happy with their season so far. Ryan Lowe’s team already had to play in the second round of the Carabao Cup, where they clearly prevailed at league rivals Huddersfield. They have also been going well in the Championship so far, so the Lilywhites can travel to the West Midlands with plenty of confidence.

Goals are in short supply

PNE are still unbeaten in their six games so far this season. However, there has also only been one win in five league games, along with four draws. After five games in the Championship, Ryan Lowe’s side have a goal difference of 1-0, which could again be an unmistakable sign that you should make a prediction on few goals in the Wolverhampton v Preston encounter.

After all, the seven points scored so far are enough for ninth place in the Championship. The gap to the top of the table is currently only three points. Last weekend, how could it be otherwise, the Lilywhites played 0-0 at home against Watford FC, which was already the fourth goalless draw in the first five league games.

PNE will also go into this cup match with a changed formation. Patrick Bauer, Greg Cunningham, Alistair McCann or Ben Woodburn are candidates who can be well imagined in the starting eleven. However, coach Ryan Lowe will have to make sure that he does not lose his defensive stability. Preston are unlikely to have any absentees due to injury on Tuesday.

Predicted Preston line-up:
Cornell – Storey, Bauer, Cunningham – Potts, Ledson, Whitemann, McCann, Brady – Woodburn, Parrott – Coach: Lowe

Last matches played by Preston:

Championship
20/08/2022 – Preston 0 – 0 Watford

17/08/2022 – Preston 0 – 0 Rotherham

13/08/2022 – Luton 0 – 1 Preston

Carabao Cup
10/08/2022 – Huddersfield 1 – 4 Preston

Championship
06/08/2022 – Preston 0 – 0 Hull

Wolverhampton – Preston Direct comparison / H2H balance

In England there is basically no pairing that is not dripping with tradition. Wolverhampton Wanderers and Preston North End have also faced each other in 118 games to date. 66 of these matches were even played in the English top flight, which was still called the First Division at the time. In the direct comparison, Preston are 49:44 ahead after victories. 25 duels ended in a draw.

The last games between these two clubs were in the 2017/18 season, when Wolves made the leap to the Premier League and remain in the top flight to this day. There was an initial 3-2 home win at the Molineux Stadium. At Preston, the two rivals drew 1-1 after goals from Alan Browne and Helder Costa in February 2018.

Wolverhampton – Preston Tip

Actually, for Premier League teams, the EFL Cup doesn’t really matter that much, at least in the early rounds. Wolverhampton, however, must now look to counter their false start in the league with success in the cup to quiet the critics and kick-start a recovery. One point from three games is hardly in line with coach Bruno Lage’s expectations.

The only problem is that Wolves have scored just one goal in those three games and have some catching up to do, especially on the offensive end. However, things don’t look any better for the opponents from Preston.

We also think that the quality of the first division team should prevail in their own stadium. Therefore, we can imagine placing a bet on a win for the Wolves. But maybe things will go a bit differently and all of a sudden the forward lines will score. Therefore, we have decided to play the betting odds on a simple home win between Wolverhampton and Preston.