After an encouraging 2-2 draw against Premier League heavyweights Liverpool, Fulham will look to add to their points tally when they go to the Molineux on Saturday afternoon. On the other hand, Wolves will try to mend the wounds of their opening day defeat to Leeds with a remarkable home victory over the Cottagers.
Wolves
A loss at Elland Road is not necessarily a disaster. But Wolves players will feel they have only themselves to blame for not getting anything from the Leeds game. Bruno Lage’s side dominated the game and took a deserving lead. In the post-match video analysis, Wolves players would rue seeing how easily they allowed Leeds to score their first goal. After handing the hosts a route back to the game, Leeds utilised their chances and secured all three points.
Lage will have to make sure that his players don’t make a habit out of wasting leads. Wolves have a nice run of fixtures coming up that they would consider winnable. The home tie against the reigning Championship champions is undoubtedly one of those fixtures. Wolves must produce a more clinical attacking display and a more solid defensive performance to take the spoils.
Gonçalo Guedes has arrived from Valencia to add more depth to Wolves’ attack. However, the winger might not be ready to start against Fulham. So, Hwang Hee-chan could return to the starting XI. João Moutinho will not recover in time to feature in the match.
Fulham
Almost everyone had predicted that Liverpool would pick up a routine victory against Fulham. Much to the credit of Fulham, the Saturday lunchtime kickoff turned out to be a thrilling affair. Fulham fought toe-to-toe with a world-class Liverpool as the Reds had to come twice from behind to salvage a two-all draw at Craven Cottage.
Fulham boss Marco Silva will hope that such a fighting spirit becomes a common occurrence for his team going forward. New signing João Palhinha made a fantastic Premier League debut as he pulled the strings from midfield and did not allow Liverpool to take complete control of the midfield. The West Londoners will expect more of that from their £20 million summer signing. Palinha was one of the summer transfer targets for Wolves before Fulham snatched him away. A strong Palinha performance at Molineux will rub salt into Wolves’ wounds.
No new injury news came out of the Fulham camp. That means Marco Silva will be able to deploy the same team that had stunned Liverpool. Fulham have signed centre-back Issa Diop from neighbours West Ham, but it will be too soon for him to start the match.
Our Prediction
Wolves will have home advantage in the match, but they did not do much well at Molineux last season. Fulham will be revitalized after the draw against Liverpool and our top football betting tips experts are expecting them to return victorious from their West Midlands trip. We call a 2-1 away win for Fulham.
Our Tip
Fulham to win @ 3.30
