Wolves vs Leicester predictions: Wolves can keep Foxes at bay

Steve Davis last week received a vote of confidence from the Wolves board, who have confirmed that the interim manager will stay in position at least until the World Cup while they continue their hunt for a full-time replacement.

That show of faith feels forced, however.

Wolves have shown little significant improvement under the youth-team coach and it is telling that the hierarchy made their statement in the immediate aftermath of QPR manager Michael Beale becoming the second person to turn down an offer to join the club.

Davis is clearly a dedicated and loyal man who seems to have the respect of the squad, but even he would admit it is not ideal to be drafting in someone with so little frontline experience given Wolves’ situation.

Wanderers have scored just five goals in 11 games and go into the weekend third from bottom in the Premier League and with three tricky matches to come before the World Cup.

Before those, however, comes a hugely important clash with fellow strugglers Leicester, who have stuck with Brendan Rodgers despite the Foxes sitting a point and a place below Wolves.

Defeat for either club in this crunch match will surely prompt their board members to wonder whether they made the right call.

Team news

Davis can point emphatically at the Molineux medical centre to explain his team’s lack of goals.

Striker Sasa Kalajdzic and winger Chiquinho will both miss most of the season through injury while Raul Jimenez and Pedro Neto are both serious doubts for the World Cup.

However, Diego Costa made his third successive start in midweek against Crystal Palace and the 34-year-old frontman is gradually building up to full fitness.

Left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri withdrew from the squad at Palace due to illness so will be assessed on Sunday morning but replacement Hugo Bueno impressed on his full debut and could again step in.

Toti Gomes failed a late fitness test at Selhurst Park and is a doubt this weekend, but the defender would likely have lost his spot to the returning Nathan Collins in any case.

Leicester manager Rodgers will welcome back James Maddison from suspension after the attacking midfielder missed the 2-0 victory over Leeds.

However, Rodgers has no shortage of issues in defence.

Full-backs Ryan Bertrand and Ricardo Pereira are both long-term absentees, while centre-backs Caglar Soyuncu and Jonny Evans missed the Leeds clash with knee and calf injuries respectively and are both doubts for the weekend.

Defensive midfielder Wilfred Ndidi is still a week or two away from returning from a thigh injury.

The stats

Remove Wolves’ 3-0 defeat to Manchester City from the record and their home matches have averaged exactly one goal per game this season.

However, while Wanderers have struggled on the road that loss to City is their only defeat at Molineux — Wolves have drawn against Newcastle and Fulham while beating both Southampton and Nottingham Forest 1-0.

Leicester have lost all five away games this season, scoring eight goals in those matches but conceding a whopping 19 — that is 3.8 per road trip.

Nor have the Foxes won on any of their last seven trips to Molineux, drawing four times and losing three, including last season’s 2-1 defeat in Wolverhampton.

Leicester have now claimed two wins and a draw in their last four outings but all three positive results came at the King Power Stadium — their only away result in that run was a 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth.

Prediction

As you would expect for two sides currently in the bottom three of the Premier League, neither team inspires much confidence.

And a sharp contrast in styles makes this a tricky match to predict from most angles, with Wolves games seeing the fewest goals in the Premier League this season but Leicester matches seeing the second most.

However, there are signs that Costa and Adama Traore are starting to give the hosts a little more bite now that the Brazilian is getting fitter and Spaniard is being trusted to start games rather than act as a super-sub.

And Wanderers have largely been able to set the tempo in their home matches, getting outclassed by Manchester City but otherwise playing at their own pace against the rest of their visitors.

If Davis’ men can again play to their strengths, shutting down the Leicester flurries while hitting a wobbly Foxes rearguard on the counter, then backing Wolves and under 2.5 goals at 19/5 with LiveScore Bet could look a shrewd play.