Preview: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Brentford - prediction, team news, lineups

Wolverhampton Wanderers will be looking to make it back-to-back wins in the Premier League when they welcome Brentford to Molineux on Saturday afternoon.

Bruno Lage's side, who sit 13th in the table, recorded a 2-0 win over Watford in their last league encounter, while 10th-placed Brentford suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.

Match preview

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Wolves had suffered three straight 1-0 defeats to Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in their opening fixtures of the 2021-22 Premier League season, which meant that there was pressure on the team to deliver a positive result away to Watford last weekend.

As it transpired, two goals in the final 16 minutes of the contest, including one from new signing Hwang Hee-chan, saw Lage pick up his first points since being appointed head coach over the summer.

Wolves have therefore collected three points from their first four matches of the season to sit 13th in the table, and Lage will now view this game as the perfect chance to put another win on the board.

It is a busy end to the month for the former Championship winners, who will take on Tottenham in the EFL Cup on September 22 before travelling to Southampton in the league four days later, and it will be interesting to see where Lage's side sit entering October, as the squad is full of quality.

Wolves are unbeaten in their last four matches with Brentford, recording three wins in the process, although Saturday's contest will be the first meeting between the two teams since January 2018.

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Brentford, meanwhile, will enter this weekend's contest off the back of a 1-0 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend, with Leandro Trossard scoring a last-minute winner for the Seagulls.

The loss to Graham Potter's side was a setback, but it has still been an encouraging start to the season for the promoted outfit, who opened their campaign with a 2-0 home success over Arsenal.

The Bees have also drawn with Crystal Palace and Aston Villa in their opening four matches, in addition to recording a 3-1 home success over Forest Green Rovers to progress in the EFL Cup.

Like Wolves, Brentford will be in EFL Cup action next week, taking on Oldham Athletic, but the Premier League will be regarded as the priority for Thomas Frank's side, and they have the small matter of a home league game against Liverpool to end the month of September.

The Bees have not beaten Wolves since a Championship fixture in February 2016, but a lot has changed at both clubs since then, and it is set to be a fascinating battle between the two teams at Molineux this weekend.

Team News

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Wolves will again be without the services of Jonny Castro, Pedro Neto and Hugo Bueno for this weekend's contest at Molineux, but Lage has no fresh injury concerns.

The majority of the side that started against Watford should retain their spots, but Hee-Chan's strong performance off the bench, which included a goal, against the Hornets could mean that the recent arrival replaces Francisco Trincao in the final third of the field.

Daniel Podence and Leander Dendoncker are among those pushing to make the first XI, but it is difficult to imagine too many alterations from the side that impressed last time out.

As for Brentford, Josh Dasilva and Mads Sorensen remain sidelined, but the Bees have no fresh injury concerns ahead of this weekend's contest.

Head coach Frank is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack following the home defeat to Brighton, with Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo set to continue in the final third of the field.

There might be a change in midfield, though, with Frank Onyeka potentially coming in for Shandon Baptiste, which was an alteration that happened during the second half of the clash against the Seagulls.

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Kilman, Coady, Saiss; Semedo, Neves, Moutinho, Marcal; Traore, Jimenez, Hee-Chan

Brentford possible starting lineup:
Raya; Ajer, Jansson, Pinnock; Canos, Onyeka, Norgaard, Janlet, Henry; Toney, Mbeumo

We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Brentford

This has all of the makings of a very interesting match in the Premier League; Wolves will fancy their chances of putting another win on the board, but Brentford have impressed in the early stages of the campaign. We are expecting a close match on Saturday afternoon but are tipping the home side to record a narrow victory.