Affected by the latest poor results and a series of unavailable or doubtful players, Enzo Maresca's Chelsea are trying to start again from a match that, in the first leg (it was the second matchday), had actually marked the first important success for the Blues: the one against Wolves, beaten in August 2-6 with a super hat-trick by Madueke (who should start on Sunday). On the bench of the yellow and blacks, however, Gary O'Neil is no longer sitting but Vitor Pereira who has undoubtedly straightened out a deficit situation that, however, remains in danger given that the team is third from bottom, tied with Ipswich. For Wolverhampton, the last two defeats in the championship have come against Nottingham and Newcastle, therefore, they are quite understandable while it was all the latest missteps of Chelsea that have been more against the odds given that they have not arrived with any of the big teams. Chelsea, therefore, has slowed down when it could have really boosted its season in a potential chase of Liverpool, but this does not mean the squad will not have the motivation to start again, given that the Blues are in the thick of the fight to enter the next Champions League, a bit like Wolves in the fight to avoid relegation which, seeing the next opponents (Chelsea, Arsenal and Aston Villa) undoubtedly has a notable peak of difficulty for the team from the Midlands.

Chelsea's shape and key stats

0 wins in their last 5 Premier League games: a truly surprising statistic that is hard to imagine on the eve of these 5 games for a team that until recently was second in the standings.

Despite the slowdown, Chelsea's attack remains excellent, in terms of numbers: 41 goals in 21 games make it the second best in the entire Premier League. Before the last 2 matches played at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea had not lost at home since the first against Manchester City, then came 1 defeat (against Fulham) and a near defeat (a draw in the 95th minute against Bournemouth) which significantly lower the Blues' home record which now reads: 4 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats.

Wolves'shape and key stats

The last two 3-0 defeats against Newcastle and Nottingham have made Wolves' defense the most beaten in the Premier League (48 goals in 21 matches played) and have slowed down the attack which, however, remains, in terms of numbers, well in the middle of the table (31 goals scored so far).

So far, Wolverhampton have not recorded big differences between home and away where, indeed, they have a slightly higher points average. Away from Molineux, however, the yellow and blacks have lost more than half of their games (6 out of 11) but have scored 17 goals which are an indication of the team's good offensive potential.

Match Prediction and Tactical Overview

Chelsea has a certain urgency to win to return to being similar to the surprise that it was until a month ago. Despite the unavailability, therefore, we expect an aggressive conduct from the Blues who will have against them the most beaten defense in the championship but also an attack with more than decent numbers that always knows how to be dangerous. Here, therefore, BetMines sees as the most probable prediction that of a match with both teams scoring.

• The prediction of the BetMines algorithm for the match Chelsea - Wolves predicts that both teams will score at least one goal at 60%
• The prediction of the BetMines algorithm for the match Chelsea - Wolves predicts that at least one of the two teams will not score any goals at 40%.

Chelsea - Wolves predicted lineups

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Caicedo, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Lavia; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson. Coach: Maresca.

Wolves (3-4-2-1): Jose Sa; Doherty, Bueno, Agbadou; Rodrigo Gomes, Andre, Joao Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Guedes, Hwang, Larsen. Coach: Pereira.