Wolves are taking on Bournemouth on Wednesday in the Premier League and Gary O’Neil is looking to get things back on track.
Injury problems have seen Wolves really falter of late, and the team have not won a game now since March 9 against Fulham.
O’Neil and his players are currently on a six-game winless run, although there have been some decent performances despite the poor results.
O’Neil rested players at the weekend against Arsenal, with the next few games presenting a good opportunity for Wolves to pick up points. Mario Lemina and Pablo Sarabia were given rests, and Rayan Ait-Nouri also only came on as a second-half substitute.
There is still a slim chance of Wolves securing European football, but anything less than three points will surely kill the dream – and Paul Merson has now given his thoughts about how the game could go…
Paul Merson makes his score prediction for Wolves v Bournemouth
O’Neil is facing his old club for the second time, having managed to get the better of the Cherries in the reverse fixture.
Wanderers won 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium back in October, with Sasa Kalajdzic – who is returning to Wolverhampton after completing his first phase of rehab – scoring a later winner for the visitors.
Bournemouth sit just one point and two places below Wolves in the Premier League table right now, so it could be a close affair.
But Paul Merson is not looking past a Wolves victory at Molineux, despite the depleted squad right now. Predicting a 2-1 home win, he told Sportskeeda: “Wolves have been unlucky with injuries and to key players as well. Gary O’Neil is set to come up against his former club and I fancy him to get one over them.
“Bournemouth went ahead against Aston Villa but fell to a 3-1 defeat last weekend. They got outplayed by Unai Emery and co, so I fancy Wolves to get all three points.”
Fellow pundit Chris Sutton is not quite as confident about a Wolves win – he reckons this one will end up a 1-1 draw.
A tough game in store, but also an opportunity
Bournemouth have enjoyed a great season, after taking the rather harsh decision to sack O’Neil and replace him with Androni Iraola.
They have the chance to leapfrog Wolves in the table with a win and Iraola would no doubt love to do that against his predecessor.
But this is a big opportunity for Wolves to get three points on the board and get back on track.
Sarabia and Lemina got a chance to rest a bit at the weekend and will hopefully both be in good condition. Hwang Hee-chan will also be able to play a bit longer than he did against Arsenal which is a boost.
O’Neil would love to do the double over his old club and hopefully the players will be even more determined to make that happen for him.
