Premier League: Chelsea’s Title Hopes Need A Boost

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Chelsea

Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea will be hoping to gather some momentum in Wolverhampton on Sunday, in the race for the 2021/22 Premier League title, having fallen slightly off the pace in recent weeks.

The Blues led the league table before stuttering over the past few weeks. Following Manchester City’s 7-0 destruction of Leeds on Tuesday they had fallen five points behind the favourites with a game in hand, a home match against Everton on Thursday night.

With some uncertainty around the Omicron virus and top flight games already falling victim, hopefully that game, and then Premier League: Wolves vs Chelsea will go ahead on Sunday. Manchester United’s weekend match against Brighton has been cancelled and Watford vs Crystal Palace must be at risk, after the injury hit Hornets announced a COVID outbreak on Wednesday to stop their game with Burnley two and a half hours before kick-off.

This isn’t a good time for Chelsea to take a break; their head coach will be desperate to recapture the form which took his team to European glory last season and the top of the table this. And Tuchel’s opposite number Bruno Lage will be keen to get the game on too, after his team ended a run of four winless games with a victory over Brighton on Wednesday night.

Talking Points

Wolves goal drought is over

Romain Saiss prepares as Wolverhampton Wanderers take on Chelsea in the Premier League — Romain Saiss during Wolverhampton Wanderers’ match against Brighton & Hove Albion

Lage’s men have had an odd season so far. They lost their opening three games, all by a 1-0 margin before winning six of the next nine to march up into the European places, and then they went on run of four matches without scoring, until they beat Brighton on Wednesday night. Top scorer Hwang Hee-Chan was preferred to Adama Traore up front, but he limped off to be replaced by Traore, who has bags of pace but a woeful scoring record of seven goals in 156 Premier League appearances. The return of Raul Jimenez to the attack has given Wolves more bite, but it was defender Romain Saiss who showed the front men how to do it, sweeping home his second goal of the campaign.

The recent drought included 1-0 losses to both Manchester City and Liverpool, but they also failed to score in goalless encounters with Norwich City and Burnley. Lage will be looking for more goals from established midfielders Ruben Nevez and Joao Moutinho who both have fine shots from distance in their locker, but he won’t be holding his breath waiting for Traore to score; he relies more on the Spaniard to stretch defences with his pace and open up opportunities for his team-mates.

Conor Coady is having another excellent season at the heart of his defence as Wolves have only conceded 14 goals in 17 games so far. The Wolves boss will want to keep it tight at the back and open things up in attack…simple!

Chelsea’s midfield welcomes Kante back

Wolves have an extra day to prepare as Chelsea had a home game against Everton on Thursday night, but there was welcome news for the Blues in the return of France midfielder N’Golo Kante to the match day squad. And the pre-match Wolves vs Chelsea news will concern Kante’s return from a knee injury, as Tuchel hopes he will come through if called upon when he faces the Toffees. There may also be a return for Matteo Kovacic who will be out of isolation by Friday, his five assists have been invaluable to the Blues this campaign and, alongside Kante, Jorginho and Mason Mount he is part of a formidable middle four when they are all firing.

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Mount is top scoring with six goals while Jorginho scored two penalties in the victory over Leeds United to make it four goals for the campaign. That result got Chelsea back on track after a defeat to West Ham and now the Blues will be keen to keep up the pressure at the top of the table.

History

The Blues have won six, drawn one and lost one away from home this season so they are strong favourites to pick up all three points. They have a good record against Wolves too, winning 11 of the 16 encounters, losing three and drawing two.

But Last season Wolves won this fixture 2-1 as Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence turned the game around after Olivier Giroud had given the Blues a lead.

In the two previous seasons Wolves scored two goals in this fixture, winning the 2018/19 meeting 2-1 but taking a 2-5 hammering in 2019/20.

Betting Tip

	Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Chelsea	1X2 Draw @ 3.80
	December 19, 22:00 (GMT+8)

At a SBOTOP price of 1.51 to win, the Blues look a little short to me while Wolves at 6.18 doesn’t tempt me either. I can see a draw here. Wolves were only narrowly beaten by Manchester City and they have been very hard to break down all season, so Under 2.50 goals at odds of 1.83 could pay dividends. A goalless draw at 8.44 or a 1-1 result at 6.95 would match my theory, though the most likely outcome, according to the latest Wolves vs Chelsea betting odds, is a single goal away win at 5.03.