Premier League: Chelsea Bid to Nail Down Third Place

Chelsea vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Bruno Lage takes his Wolves team to West London on Saturday to take on third-placed Chelsea with a chance to re-ignite their fading European hopes, but they meet a team with arguably more serious problems and a desperate need for a win.   

This Premier League matchup brings together two teams a little out of sorts at the moment, but Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea might just have more at stake in this clash.

They currently sit five points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur and just three ahead of Arsenal in fourth. Without a win in their last two games and an FA Cup final coming into view, the Blues need to find some form. And they also need to rule out any nagging doubts that they could slip down the table.

Both teams come into the game on the back of a bad loss, Chelsea in a 1-0 defeat away to Everton and Wolves beaten 3-0 at home by Brighton. In fact, Wolves have lost their last three and dropped to eighth place, three points behind West Ham in the last Europa qualifying berth, so they will be up for the fight too.

Talking Points

Are Chelsea’s off-field problems creeping onto the pitch?  

The Blues have spent much of the campaign in third place but still have work to do to avoid slipping out of the top four at the last moment. And the pre-match Premier League 2022 betting odds back Tuchel’s side to pick up three points against Wolves, but off-field problems are threatening to derail their season.

Since the sanctions placed on owner Roman Abramovich, Chelsea have been up for sale, but recent developments have cast some doubt on the process, which needs to be concluded by the end of May.

The UK government will be aware of any attempts to restructure the deal which could see Abramovich receive the £1.5bn he loaned the club, and any disagreements could hamper the deal. The government needs to be completely assured that the former owner will receive nothing and, as the football club’s licence expires n 31^st May, the worst case scenario is Chelsea going out of business. 

While all parties will do all they can to ensure that doesn’t happen, it can’t help matters on the pitch. Top scorer Mason Mount is yet to be offered a new contract, which has been delayed under the current restrictions, while talismanic centre-back Antonio Rudiger is already planning his move out of Stamford Bridge. A recent 4-2 defeat to Arsenal and a pitiful showing in a 1-0 loss, to former player Frank Lampard’s Everton, suggest the players’ minds are not entirely on the game.

Wolves are hard to break down

Wolves come into this game on the back of a run of defeats, but they have been one of the toughest teams to score against this season. Lage favours a back three and he has good cover in those positions.

The cultured Max Kilman, the ball-playing Roma Saiss, and hard man Willy Boly occupy two of these places while the defence is held together by inspirational skipper Conor Coady who, at 29 years of age, is one of the best defenders in the league.

Coady reads the game superbly, making last-ditch tackles when needed but is a clean operator, committing less than a foul a game. He is also a threat at set-pieces, scoring three goals and one in Wolves’ recent 1-0 victory over Everton.        

With 32 goals conceded Wolves have the fourth-tightest defence in the Premier League with only the top three teams conceding fewer but, at the other end of the pitch, they struggle, scoring only 33 goals in 34 games.

Raul Jimenez, with six goals and four assists and Ruben Neves, with four goals and two assists, remain Wolves’ biggest goal chances but there is too little creativity around them.  

History

The Blues have won 11 of their last 17 encounters with Wolves, while drawing three and losing three. Both the last two meetings have resulted in a goalless draw, at Molineux earlier this season and at Stamford Bridge in the 2020/21 campaign.

In terms of recent form, Chelsea have the edge with three wins, a draw and two losses in the last six while Wolves have won two and lost four.

Betting Tip

Odds of 1.35 seem a little fine on a Blues win, the way they failed to beat Everton without even scoring, while an SBOTOP price of 8.20 on Wolves looks more tempting, but I’m backing a draw in a stop-start affair.   

I don’t expect the Premier League 2022 highlights to provide a goal fest and, for an alternative bet, Under 2.50 goals is available at odds of 1.90 while a third consecutive 0-0 draw in this fixture is at 9.16.  

 

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