It only felt like a few weeks ago that the dreaded R word was being mentioned around Wolves; relegation.
Though, fortunately for Nuno Santo and his players, they have engineered a revival. The Old Gold are now back in form having gone unbeaten in their last four league games.
The catalyst appears to have been their rather controversial win over Arsenal. Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves were on the scoresheet and since then, Wolves haven’t looked back.
It’s a credit to Nuno who looked down and out before that encounter. Though, they’re now playing with more intensity and with their trusty three-man defence, are truly back in business.
So, with a clash against Newcastle to look forward to, how will the Portuguese line up?
Despite reverting back to his trusted three back in the last few games, we think Nuno should go back to a four-man defence when they face the Magpies.
That’s because Wolves will need to be more attacking when they travel to St James’ Park. Steve Bruce’s men are the second-worst side in the league when it comes to average possession so the visitors should see plenty of the ball on Saturday evening.
Consequently, we’re tipping Nuno to change system and make one change, bringing in a forward-thinking player in Vitinha. He replaces the £28.8m-rated Leander Dendoncker who drops out of the side in rather unfortunate circumstances.
Nelson Semedo could be in for a tough afternoon against Allan-Saint Maximin but will hopefully have able cover behind him in Conor Coady and Romain Saiss. Jonny continues at left-back while Pedro Neto and Adama Traore support Willian Jose in attack.
The Brazilian is still searching for his first goal in Wolves colours but stands a good chance of breaking his drought against relegation-threatened opposition.
Daniel Podence, Raul Jimenez, Marcal and Willy Boly will miss the match through injury.