Wolves vs Leeds United
England – Premier League
Date: Friday, 19 February 2021
Kick-off at 20:00 UK/ 21:00 CET
Venue: Molineux Stadium.
Molineux Stadium will host Friday’s Premier League clash between Wolverhampton and Leeds United.
The Wolves showed character in their last league match, with the team coming from behind to beat Southampton at St.
Mary’s Stadium. The arrival of Willian Jose obviously helped the team improve offensively, but Nuno Espirito Santo’s troops need to keep on winning if they are to move closer to the Europa League berth.
Raul Jimenez, Willy Boly, and Daniel Castelo Podence are all sidelined with injuries, but there are no suspended players in the home team.
The Whites, on the other hand, experienced all sorts of problems at the back in a 4-2 loss to Arsenal.
Midfielder Kalvin Phillips was sorely missed in the Emirates Stadium defeat, and seeing that he is unlikely to recover in time to face Wolverhampton, we are tempted to put our money on the hosts.
Wolves vs Leeds: Head-to-head (h2h)
Teams Wolverhampton Wanderers Leeds played so far 20 matches.
Wolverhampton Wanderers won 10 direct matches. Leeds won 7 matches. 3 matches ended in a draw. On average in direct matches both teams scored a 2.70 goals per Match.
Wolves vs Leeds Prediction
Wolverhampton Wanderers in actual season average scored 0.96 goals per match. In 10 (66.67%) matches played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 5 (33.33%) matches in season 2021 played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Leeds average scored 1.64 goals per match in season 2021. In 11 (84.62%) matches played away was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 11 (84.62%) matches played away team was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Team News:
Wolves will again be without the services of Daniel Podence, Willy Boly and Jimenez for Friday's contest, but the home side are otherwise in good shape in terms of absentees.
There is a strong chance that Nuno could decide to select the same XI that took to the field against Southampton, with Adama Traore and Neto again supporting recent arrival Willian Jose.
Fabio Silva and Fernando Marcal are both pushing for spots in the side, but Nuno is unlikely to shuffle his pack considering the result against Southampton, which made it three league games unbeaten.
Leeds, meanwhile, will again definitely be without Gaetano Berardi, Rodrigo Moreno, Adam Forshaw, Ian Poveda and Robin Koch through injury, but Diego Llorente is available following his latest issue.
Mateusz Klich should overcome a hip issue to feature in the middle of the park, but Kalvin Phillips remains unavailable due to a calf problem, with the Englishman not yet ready to return.
The injury situation at Elland Road means that Bielsa's options for change are limited, and there are not expected to be any major surprises in the XI, with Jack Harrison and Raphinha again likely to support Bamford, while Jamie Shackleton and Struijk should also retain their positions.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Patricio; Dendoncker, Coady, Saiss; Semedo, Neves, Moutinho, Jonny; Traore, Willian Jose, Neto
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Meslier; Shackleton, Ayling, Cooper, Alioski; Raphinha, Dallas, Struijk, Klich, Harrison; Bamford