Wolves vs Brentford – Analysis, Prediction, Team News

As part of our weekend Premier League predictions, we take a look at Brentford’s trip to Wolves. The visitors are winless in four, while Wolves are hugely inconsistent. Who will prevail? Read on with our Wolves vs Brentford prediction.

Wolves vs Brentford Match Preview

Last weekend, Wolves earned a hugely valuable three points via a world-class strike from Matheus Nunes against a lacklustre Chelsea side in turmoil. This isn’t to take anything away from Lopetegui’s men – they mostly limited Chelsea to half chances and did extremely well to withstand Chelsea’s attempts to launch a second-half fightback. This was the third occasion on which Wolves were able to take the scalp of one of the Premier League’s ‘big clubs’ – the other two being a 3-0 victory over Liverpool and a 1-0 win over Spurs.

Those three points leave Wolves four points clear of the relegation zone in 13th position, illustrating just how tight this relegation battle is at the business end of the season. Though Wolves may fancy their chances of picking up points away to Leicester and at home to Crystal Palace, their run-in is generally difficult, as they face Brighton, Man Utd and Arsenal away in that order as well as a difficult Midlands derby against an in-form Aston Villa side chasing a European spot. Every game counts at this point, and they need to take advantage of a Brentford side in something of a lull at the moment.

As stated, Brentford’s form has taken a turn for the worse with two points in their last four Premier League matches. It’s not so much that they’ve been performing particularly poorly (asides from their first-half display against Manchester United at Old Trafford) – in fact, they were rather unfortunate not to be two goals to the good against Newcastle United at half-time last time out following a penalty miss from Ivan Toney (he converted the other one) and a near miss with a VAR offside call. Newcastle were the better team in the second half, but they’ve been in superb form lately and despite that fact, on another day perhaps Brentford close the game out from 2-0 at halftime.

Brentford aren’t out of the race for European football just yet, though their chances have taken a significant blow with their recent run of form. They’ve been rather unfortunate that their dip in form has coincided with both Aston Villa and Brighton hitting form at just the right time, and in Brighton’s case they have three more points and two games in hand over Frank’s men. Brentford have a few difficult fixtures in their run-in, notably away at Anfield and at home to Manchester City on the final day of the season, but home games against Nottingham Forest and West Ham look winnable while a home game against Aston Villa could prove crucial to their chances.

Team News

Injuries and Suspensions

Wolves:

Might Not Play: Traore

Will Not Play: Chiquinho, Jonny, Kalajdzic, Neves

Brentford:

Might Not Play:

Will Not Play: Ajer, Jansson, Lewis-Potter

Wolves vs Brentford Lineups (Predicted)

Wolves (4-2-3-1): Sa; Jonny, Dawson, Kilman, Semedo; Joao Gomes, Lemina; Matheus Nunes, Cunha, Podence; Diego Costa

Brentford (3-5-2): Raya; Mee, Pinnock, Zanka; Henry, Hickey, Norgaard, Jensen, Janelt; Toney, Mbeumo

Wolves vs Brentford Analysis

Wolves Are in Good Form – Against a Certain Type of Opponent

We’ve alluded to the fact that Wolves have won three out of their last five home matches, and the list of names is impressive. Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea are some of the league’s big names, and it is a fantastic achievement. The issue here is a stylistic one. Wolves have successfully counter-attacked and simultaneously been able to defend deep against all three to gain some hugely impressive results. They were a little fortunate against Spurs, but sometimes in these games against the big clubs, you’re going to need an element of good fortune.

So what’s the problem? Well, Brentford don’t employ the same general tactical approach as any of those clubs. They play a far more direct style of football which is geared towards generating the most goal threat possible when in possession, which is a highly efficient style of play for the players at their disposal. They’re attuned to pressing all over the pitch and taking advantage of the opportunities that came their way, often caused by either winning the ball high up the pitch or winning the ball deeper and catching the opposition out of position. As such, it’s unlikely that Wolves will be able to employ those same tactics – Brentford won’t play ball, so to speak.

Wolves Struggle with Direct Transitions

Wolves are at their most comfortable defending with the low block, making life difficult for their opponents and then looking to hurt the opposition in transition. The issue they appear to have is when an opponent turns up with the same ambitions. When the game gets stretched as neither side is willing to play with a high line and they don’t look to dominate the ball and condense the play, Wolves have suffered. A 1-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, a 2-1 away defeat to Newcastle, a hugely disappointing 4-2 home defeat to Leeds who are particularly strong in that phase of play and a 1-1 draw away to Nottingham Forest who were unlucky not to win all serve to reinforce this perception.

Brentford are among the league’s best sides at stretching the play in such a manner and going for the throat. It makes sense for them – their midfield unit can be described as hard-working and utilitarian and that suits their style of play. The more creative players at the sharp end of world football tend to be the most expensive, so what better way to compete than building a hard-pressing, well-drilled side capable of exploiting the opposition in transition. They do it so well that it has almost become a meme at this point, and it’s hard to think of a match they weren’t competitive in.

Our Prediction

This match is a stylistic nightmare for Wolves and we expect Brentford to be able to do with both Bournemouth and Leeds have been able to do recently and grab a victory that might not seem to be on the cards. Brentford’s recent points total is poor admittedly but they certainly weren’t outplayed for 90 minutes against either Newcastle or Manchester United and on a different day results could have been different.

It seems odd to predicting a Wolves slip-up here given their recent roll call of vanquished opponents at Molineux, but those were achieved by employing a tactical approach that probably won’t be possible to implement here. Brentford will not probe patiently and allow Wolves to get organised – they thrive in chaos and playing risky forward balls that turn defenders towards their own goal. We also can’t justify backing Brentford for a clean sheet – in the last 10 games, they’ve only managed that against a poor Southampton side twice.

Wolves 1-2 Brentford

Wolves vs Brentford Betting Tip – Brentford Odds: