After a dismal start to their Premier League campaign, Wolverhampton Wanderers will look to use the Carabao Cup third-round tie against Everton as an opportunity to revive their season. Vítor Pereira’s side sits at the bottom of the Premier League table after five straight defeats. The cup fixture offers Wolves both a chance to rotate their squad and a potential momentum boost. Here is our Wolves predicted lineup.
Under Pereira, Wolves have stuck mainly with their 3-4-2-1 formation. Last time out against Leeds United, José Sa returned between the sticks. The defensive line was made up of Emmanuel Agbadou, Toti Gomes, and Yerson Mosquera. The midfield consisted of Jackson Tchatchoua, João Gomes, Ladislav Krejčí, and Rodrigo Gomes.
Fer López, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, and Tolu Arokodare made up the forward line. Jorgen Strand Larsen is usually preferred as the striker due to his physicality.
The form table makes for grim reading. Wolves have lost all five of their opening Premier League games and haven’t won in the League since April. However, they did pick up the only win of the season against West Ham in the second round of the cup.
The Wanderers tend to try to stay compact without the ball, pressing selectively rather than committing numbers, before using transitions to try to exploit space. The wing-backs remain key to stretching opposition defences, while midfielders provide balance to avoid being overrun. While the strategy shows promise, execution has faltered under the strain of low confidence and costly errors.
The manager has said that a cup win will give his side confidence:
“It would give us confidence,” said Pereira. “We don’t have time to think a lot about this (Leeds)game.
We need to focus on the next one, we need to improve ourselves, I need to improve myself and my players, and we’ll try to do it.”
Wolves have no selection problems going into this game. Jørgen Strand Larsen, who had missed the previous two matches due to an Achilles injury, featured for 45 minutes against Leeds and is expected to play a part in this game. Ki-Jana Hoever has also not featured since going off injured against Bournemouth, but made the bench for Saturday’s defeat to Leeds, so is available for selection.
GK: Sam Johstone
Defence: Yerson Mosquera, Matt Doherty, & Santiago Bueno
Midfield: Hugo Bueno, André, João Gomes, Fer López, & Ki-Jana Hoever
Forwards: Hwang Hee-chan, & Jørgen Strand Larsen
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