Key events
KICK OFF
Let’s go!
Hwang has received some treatment and looks OK to start after all. Wolves fans, and I dare say a few Fantasy Football managers, will be breathing a sigh of relief.
We’re almost ready to start.
Oh no, this doesn’t look too good.
Gary O’Neil tells the Sky Sports cameras that “the more we face teams [like Sheffield United], the more we improve”. He wants his side to become more adaptable and “understand the challenge”.
Chris Wilder has the bit between his teeth and wants his players to “restore pride in our performances” after that 5-0 shellacking by Brighton last week. “We can produce big performances away from home and we’ll need one today.”
I had the benefit of attending the reverse fixture between these two sides for The Guardian and watched a slightly madcap 100ish minutes unfold, in which time Sheffield United scrapped and scraped their way to a 1-0 lead, squandered it amid heavy Wolves pressure, and then won it at the last thanks to a marginal VAR call.
Lessons to be learned from that game? That Wolves can be a soft touch in these games at times, preferring to counter than be countered upon, and that VAR will always, always have the final say.
Half an hour until go-time at Molineux. Wolves have lost their previous two games here and haven’t won a home Premier League match since 2023. Meanwhile, Sheffield United have scored nine goals in their past three away trips in all competitions, winning two of those games. Am I trying to squeeze the stats into a narrative? Er … maybe. However, it’s clear that a Wolves win isn’t as nailed-on as some may be assuming.
Wolves are unchanged, lining up in that familiar 3-4-3 that Nuno Espirito Santo often used, which has been revitalised to good effect by Gary O’Neil. That’s a dangerous looking front three even without Cunha, with Pablo Sarabia joining Hwang Hee-chan and Pedro Neto up top.
Sheffield United make four changes, the most notable one in goal with Wes Foderingham dropped and Ivo Grbic getting another chance, after a couple of games in late January – in which he conceded eight goals. Rhian Brewster, yet to score a league goal this season, leads the line. I make it a 3-5-1-1 from the Blades with James McAtee in that No 10 role.
Team news
Wolves: Sá, Kilman, Dawson, Toti, Semedo, Lemina, Gomes, Aït-Nouri, Neto, Sarabia, Hwang
Subs: Bentley, Doherty, H.Bueno, S.Bueno, Doyle, Traoré, Bellegarde, Chirewa, Fraser
Sheffield United: Grbic, Robinson, Ahmedhodzic, Trusty, Bogle, Norwood, Hamer, Souza, Larouci, McAtee, Brewster
Subs: Foderingham, Curtis, Sasnauskas, Davies, Osborn, Arblaster, Brooks McBurnie, Osula
Preamble
Hello and welcome to this latest instalment of ‘which Wolves will turn up today’? Gary O’Neil is doing a pretty solid job at Molinuex, but their recent results card shows the following: a 2-1 win at Tottenham, a 2-0 home defeat by Brentford, a magnificient 4-2 win away at Chelsea and a crazy 4-3 loss to Manchester United. That’s some wildly oscillating form by anyone’s yardstick.
You’d think the visit of Sheffield United today makes Wolves big favourites, which of course is true. But they were seriously blunt in that home reverse to Brentford a fortnight ago and actually lost to the Blades earlier in the season at Bramall Lane – albeit via a controversial VAR decision. It’s perhaps that cocktail that will give confidence to Chris Wilder’s men on their trip down the M1, even if their hopes of avoiding relegation appear increasingly slim with every passing week. Mason Holgate is absent for the visitors, of course, after his horrendous red card tackle against Brighton last week. Wolves may well miss Matheus Cunha, who has a hamstring problem, the same issue that is currently afflicting the Blades’ January addition, Ben Brereton Díaz.
Kick-off is in the slightly earlier Sunday slot, at 1.3opm (GMT). Team news will follow.