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Wolves Aim To Increase Pressure On Burnley

The Premier League is back after two weeks of international football for us all to deal with. Of course, you wouldn’t have found many people complaining about international football just a few months ago, but the World Cup is a completely different entity. These games at the start of the domestic season are always seen as quite pointless, and while they may have introduced the UEFA Nations League, that hasn’t really changed the viewpoint of many. Still, we don’t have to think about that for a while now, because domestic football is back in our lives – and there are some cracking games for us to drool over as we look ahead to the weekend.

Saturday is stacked with several high profile matches going down, but we want to look ahead to a game that’s taking place on Sunday instead. Wolverhampton Wanderers will be facing Burnley at Molineux, in a game that has a much deeper meaning for football historians around the world. These two sides are both known for being founding members of the Football League, dating all the way back to 1888. Of course, the present and the future is what matters to many people in the modern era and we can understand that, but it’s nice to see that two clubs with such a deep history are back where they belong in the top flight of English football.

They aren’t quite ‘contenders’ in the way that they were back then, but given the circumstances, we’d say that they’re both faring pretty well in a division that is becoming increasingly difficult to stay in. Wolves are just starting to find their feet in the top flight after an uneasy start, with many casual fans predicting big things from them prior to the campaign even getting underway. They seem to be recapturing the momentum that they created for themselves down in the Championship, and if they can keep that going over the course of the next few months, things could get very interesting.

On the other side of things, we’ve got Burnley, who have had quite the adventure already this season. Their big European adventure, unfortunately, ended in disappointment, but you can’t say that they didn’t give it everything they had. Alas, as many predicted, their Europa League exploits seemed to impact what was happening in the league too. Still, it doesn’t seem as if there’s too much pressure on the shoulders of Sean Dyche just yet, and he’ll be dying to prove to Nuno Espirito Santo that he’s still one of the best tacticians in the division.

Nuno, though, has certainly been adapting well to the Premier League, as evidenced by how much Wolves have grown in such a short amount of time since they kicked things off against Everton. Their 2-2 draw against the Toffees was seen as a let off in many ways given how they played, and they followed that up with a reality check loss to Leicester City. At that point, it seemed as if things could unravel pretty quickly if they didn’t get back on track, but against all odds, they pulled off a somewhat stunning draw against Manchester City in which they didn’t look out of place whatsoever against the champions. Their last minute win against West Ham was thoroughly deserved, too, because now they remember what it feels like to get a PL win under their belt.

Burnley have been a bit less fortunate, though, and that’s putting it lightly. We have to remember that they had the Europa League to deal with, but a lot of fans will argue that they knew this is what they were getting themselves into. Their 0-0 draw against Southampton on the opening weekend didn’t deserve as too much of a reason to be concerned, but back to back losses against Watford and Fulham, in convincing fashion, certainly caused some eyebrows to raise. The defeat against 10-man Manchester United really rubber stamped that, and now, they’ll be unbelievably eager to register a win so that they can ease some of the worries.

As we stated these two clubs have been coming across one another since records began, and while both have changed identities both on and off the pitch several times since then, it’s still a classic fixture in the realms of English football. Wolves lead the overall head to head 65-37 with 26 draws across history, but they haven’t actually played each other since March 2016. When they did, the end result was a 1-1 draw – and the Clarets haven’t actually lost to Wolves since 2010.

The return of Johan Berg Gudmundsson will cause many Burnley fans to issue a sigh of relief, as he could prove to be the difference maker for them at Molineux. Ben Gibson will likely be sat on the sidelines due to a groin issue, although Stephen Ward is set to return to the starting XI in order to face his former team. Ward, who scored a memorable winner against Liverpool for Wolves, is still held in pretty high regard by the Midlands club.

Raul Jimenez, who has had a hit and miss start to life in Wolverhampton, will likely miss out after sustaining a muscle injury during his time away on international duty. Ivan Cavaleiro is also still out for Wolves, but in terms of who will actually start, it’s clear to see that Moutinho and Neves will be viewed as the game changers for the hosts. Both men have been tearing it up so far from midfield, and they’ll likely only continue to improve as the season goes on.

Wolves vs Burnley Betting Prediction

It’s always tough to predict games in the Premier League, because we’d argue that next to the Championship it’s one of the most unpredictable divisions in Europe – if not the world. Both clubs are seemingly heading in very different directions but that could all change in the blink of an eye, especially given that Wolves are well known for being a ‘coupon busting’ team in the sense that they always seem to let people down one way or the other.

Alas, it feels like they’re slowly moving away from that reputation as they find the right balance in their squad. It feels like Burnley are going to come right at them from the word go, but Wolves have enough quality to deal with that kind of pressure. We think they’ll start to get into a rhythm with their attacking, free flowing football, slowly wearing the visitors down in the process. It won’t be a complete blow out in terms of the scoreline but Wolves will certainly control the pace of things, and because of that, we’re predicting a 2-0 win for Nuno’s men.