Premier League football resumes on Valentine’s Day as Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City lock horns in what promises to be an intriguing Midlands derby at Molineux. Victory for Wolves will see them jump three spots up to sixth in the table, while a win for Leicester will see the Foxes leapfrog second place Man City.
The winter break could not have come at a better time for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men, who seemed to be suffering from the after effects of a congested fixture list and had won only one of their last eight across all competitions. Despite a bright start to the season, they’re now ninth, but their competitors’ inability to take advantage means there are only four points between the Midlands outfit and fifth place Sheffield United in the league standings.
Wolves also lost Adama Traore to injury against Man Utd a fortnight ago, but coach Santo has said that his star forward will be “OK”. Traore’s pace and strength make him a nightmare for opposition defences, and he has been one of Wolves’ in-form players this season, with rumours of interest from Real Madrid and Barca in the recently concluded winter window.
Like Wolves, Leicester have also suffered from a recent loss in form- only two wins in their last seven, but they do appear to be recovering, and drew 2-2 with Chelsea in their last game before the break. Their immediate aim would to be ensure a Champions League spot for next season, and they appear to be well placed to achieve that target, with Brendan Rodgers’ side holding an eight point gap over the fourth placed Blues.
When the two teams clashed at the King Power earlier this season, the game ended in a goalless stalemate- the only one in Leicester’s season so far. Comparing the odds on the Bettingmetrics website indicates this is a tough game to call, and could go either way. Wolves have only lost to Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool at home in the league. Likewise, Leicester have been very good on the road- prior to that shock loss against Burnley, their only three away defeats were against LFC and the two Manchester sides.
Last five games at Molineux between Wolves and Leicester
Wolves 4-3 Leicester
Wolves 0-0 Leicester (Cup fixture, Leicester won on pens)
Wolves 2-1 Leicester
Wolves 1-1 Leicester
Wolves 1-2 Leicester
Jamie Vardy remains Leicester’s top goal scorer in the league this season, but has scored only once in his last ten games across all competitions, and has never found the back of the net against Wolves. However Rodgers has backed his star forward, who is only three away from completing a century of PL goals, to regain his scoring touch soon.
Leicester have a poor recent record under the referee for this game- Mike Dean, having won only one of their last five with him in charge, but did beat Wolves in the 2018/19 season (2-0 at the King Power) when he was the man in the middle. Dean is yet to referee a Wolves game this season, but has already been involved in three LCFC games for 2019/20 (Aston Villa, City, Brighton)