Wolves are back in action in the Premier League this evening, giving Gary O’Neil the opportunity to show his faith in one star who could cause Bournemouth real problems.
Wolves will be on the hunt for their first win in five Premier League games this evening, as the Old Gold host Bournemouth in what is poised to be an exciting match at Molineux.
Gary O’Neil will hope to do the double over his former club, following on from the last-gasp 2-1 win at the Vitality back in October.
It’s been a remarkable season for the Midlands club, but a difficult few weeks as the manager continues to navigate his shortened squad amid their injury crisis.
Fortunately, the boss has been handed a boost on the injury front following Wolves’ defeat to Arsenal on Saturday, which saw O’Neil piece together an abstract XI with the first-team members he had available.
Still, Wolves showed their resilience to hand the Gunners a challenging game, and will now aim to push for a result against the Cherries.
Wolves team news v Bournemouth
Not having Rayan Ait-Nouri, Nelson Semedo, Mario Lemina, Craig Dawson, Matheus Cunha, Pedro Neto, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Pablo Sarabia fit to start against Arsenal was a nightmare for O’Neil.
In his pre-match press conference yesterday, the manager gave a positive update on his list of absentees, with Ait-Nouri, Sarabia and Lemina all in contention to return to the starting lineup.
READ MORE: Full Wolves injury update ahead of Bournemouth clash
While O’Neil will have more options available to replenish his attack, some rotation players shone against Arsenal, with one name surely showing enough to warrant a start against Bournemouth.
Tawanda Chirewa has earned his place in the starting XI to play Bournemouth
Making his full Premier League debut against the league leaders was 20-year-old Tawanda Chirewa, who put in an encouraging display at Molineux.
Most comfortable playing in attacking midfield, the academy jewel started in a more advanced position alongside Hwang Hee-chan, playing 75 minutes against Mikel Arteta’s side to great effect.
READ MORE: Who Tawanda Chirewa impressed with performance v Arsenal
Journalist Liam Keen dubbed the youngster’s performance as ‘quality’, handing him a 7/10 match rating, handing O’Neil a decision to make ahead of the Bournemouth game.
Naturally, Chirewa would be dropped to see a player such as Sarabia re-enter the fold however, the Spaniard has not proved that he deserves a start in recent weeks.
The manager could now show his faith in young Chirewa by starting him over a player as experienced as Sarabia, taking his efforts against Arsenal into account, a move that could cause the Cherries problems.
Only time will tell if the boss will repay the performance of the academy star, a show of faith that could be beneficial to the club in the future.