Key events
22 mins: I’ll try not to mention Cunha’s absence too much. But it could be quite significant tonight … we’ll see.
21 mins: Agbadou v Beto is turning into a titanic tussle – definitely one to watch as this game goes on.
The home fans are turning up the volume as their team continue to boss possession. Are they just missing that spark, the kind Matheus Cunha might have offered?
18 mins: There are groans from the Wolves crowd as Semedo slows down a fast counterattack rather than go for the jugular. Everton are getting bodies back quickly, so you sense Wolves need to pounce when they can.
16 mins: Rayan Aït-Nouri embarks on a buccaneering run from left wing-back after a mistake from Everton in possession leaves them wide open. It doesn’t quite happen for Aït-Nouri – he was invited to shoot but had to settle for a corner after his shot took a big deflection.
Munesti goes close from the corner! He rose highest but his header was straight at Pickford on the goalline and it was then whacked clear.
14 mins: Wolves have enjoyed more possession, but Everton look the sharper and more incisive team whenever they get forward. Beto and Doucoure are proving to be a handful.
12 mins: Doucoure is again denied by a super Wolves block, this time Agbadou puts himself on the line after a melee in the box. The Everton man is left with hands on his head.
10 mins: The tempo has slowed somewhat with Wolves’ back three able to dwell on the ball and try and pick their way through Everton. The Toffees’ structure looks sound, mind you. Good discipline from them.
An email from Andy Flintoff (not that one):
I’m not the only person to think that Agbadou has his own (naff Europop-style) theme song from the 80s by Black Lace, am I?
I really hope so, Andy! Can a Wolves fan confirm please?
7 mins: Back on the pitch and Doucoure’s shot was well blocked by a wall of Wolves’ bodies after the ball dropped kindly to him 20 yards from goal.
6 mins: The new Premier League ball really is a belter you know. Proper noughties Total90 vibes, to the point where you wouldn’t mind seeing Morten Gamst Pedersen curl it over a wall from 25 yards. Whoever brought it back clearly enjoyed the recent ‘Barclaysmen’ trend.
3 mins: Neither side has really got hold of it as yet. Toti Gomes sees out the ever-enthusiastic Beto after the Everton man hustled and harried to the byline.
2 mins: The start of such Premier League games is typically a harum-scarum affair and this is no different. Beto is penalised for putting a little too much pressure on Agbadou.
KICK OFF
Here we go!
Wolves’ rendition of Hi Ho Silver Lining is always an enjoyably loud one. We’re pretty much ready to go at a packed-out Molineux.
Everton haven’t won away at Wolves since January 2021 – when there were no fans in the stadium due to the Covid-enforced lockdown.
In fact they’ve only won four of 12 games against Wanderers since the midlands club returned to the Premier League for the 2018/19 season and only one of those was away from home.
Speaking of Mr Brewin, his report from Aston Villa’s win over Brentford has just landed. Busy man.
This is a cracking column from Macclesfield’s finest John Brewin on modern day pundits. His point is well summed up in this line: “A Manchester United player of 2025 has even fewer places to hide than his 90s Liverpool equivalent.”
Presumably the Premier League are tweeting such things out because there’s precious little else to play for in the final two months of the season?
Matheus Cunha will be a huge miss for Wolves today. His needless headbutt on Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez in the FA Cup last week was a complete loss of composure and leaves his team without their talisman – and could incur a further ban, with the FA to potentially extend the three-game suspension to four, given precious indiscretions.
Marshall Munetsi, signed from Reims in January, makes just his third start for the club instead. The pressure will be on the Zimbabwean to step up.
It’s 16th v 17th and if Wolves win today they’ll virtually be in a league of their own, still trailing Everton by seven points and eight clear of Ipswich and Leicester, who are on 22 points. An Everton win would keep the gap between 17th and 18th at five points, with Leicester going to Chelsea tomorrow seeking an unlikely win that would close it to just two.
A lot of permutations and ramifications, there, but there’s not much of a relegation scrap to get excited about. It’s not exactly final day 2005.
Team news
Wolves (3-4-3): Sá; Doherty, Agbadou, T. Gomes; Semedo, André, J.Gomes, Aït-Nouri; Munetsi, Bellegarde, Strand Larsen.
Subs: Johnstone, Bueno, Hwang, R. Gomes, Doyle, Sarabia, Guedes, Djiga, Lima.
Everton (4-3-3): Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Gueye, Garner, Doucouré; Lindstrøm, Harrison, Beto.
Subs: Begovic, Virgínia, Patterson, Keane, Chermiti, Young, Coleman, Alcaraz, Iroegbunam.
Our current live football offering comes from the Gtech Community Stadium where Ollie Watkins has scored against his old side. Niall McVeigh has the updates.
Preamble
Hello! A few weeks ago this might have been a tantalising relegation six-pointer under the Molineux Saturday night lights. Now, however, thanks largely to the dire form of the three clubs in the drop zone and the impact of new managers at Wolves and Everton, it holds less significance.
Credit must go to both Vítor Pereira and David Moyes, who have re-energised clubs whose football was becoming stale and stagnant and whose results wavered majorly earlier in the season, to the point where Ipswich and Leicester (probably never Southampton) harboured genuine hopes of survival. Not so much anymore – even if a Wolves loss in this one will keep the aforementioned duo vaguely interested.
We’ll run through the team news shortly before the 8pm (GMT) kickoff. Let’s go!