With Bruno Lage’s Wolverhampton Wanderers side heading into Saturday’s Premier League clash in a remarkable run of form, having picked up 12 points from a possible 15 over their last five games, the 45-year-old will undoubtedly be hoping for yet another positive result this weekend.
With today’s hosts Leeds United being in a rather contrasting run of form at present, Marcelo Bielsa’s men having picked up just six points so far this season, Lage will know that his team have a fantastic opportunity to catapult themselves into the top half of the table with a result against the Whites.
Will the Portuguese manager decide to make any changes from the team which started the last-gasp 3-2 victory over Aston Villa last weekend? Here’s how we think Wolves could line up against Leeds, along with the latest team and injury news…
With Lage recently confirming that Willy Boly has been ruled out of the visit to Elland Road due to injury and revealing that Francisco Trincao will be available for selection once more – the winger has completed his quarantine period after falling ill while on international duty – we predict that the 45-year-old will make two changes to his starting XI today.
The back six of Jose Sa, Romaine Saiss, Conor Coady, Max Kilman, Fernando Marcal and Nelson Semedo remains unchanged, something which is largely down to Lage currently having just three fit centre-backs in his first team squad following Boly’s injury.
The first change comes in the middle of the park. After deploying a three-man central midfield against Villa, Lage reverts back to a two of Ruben Neves and Leander Dendoncker, with the £3.6m-rated Joao Moutinho dropping out of the XI.
This change also sees Wolves once more employing a three-man attack, in which Adama Traore and the £52k-per-week Daniel Podence start on the left and right flanks respectively as both players highly impressed in the win at Villa. Meanwhile, 25-year-old Hwang Hee-chan, who had a poor game at Villa Park, is replaced by Raul Jimenez up top, with Trincao having to make do with a place on the bench initially.
In other news: Wolves’ £6.3m-rated “breath of fresh air” could cause Lage a major problem next season