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

Wolverhampton Wanderers will be bidding to continue their push towards the top four in the Premier League when they welcome Leicester City to Molineux on Sunday afternoon.

The home side are currently seventh in the table, six points behind fourth-placed Manchester United with two games in hand, while Leicester sit 11th, 10 points behind their opponents in this match.

Match preview

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Wolves are not being mentioned by too many as candidates to finish in the top four, with Man United, Arsenal, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur seemingly battling for a Champions League position.

However, Bruno Lage's side are in a strong position in the table, sitting seventh on 37 points, just six points behind fourth-placed Man United with two games in hand, and they appear to be finding their best form at a crucial stage of the campaign.

Wolves disappointingly lost at home to Arsenal on February 10, but that is their only defeat in the Premier League since December 11, winning five of their last seven, including four of their last five, beating Man United, Southampton, Brentford and Tottenham since the turn of the year.

Lage's team were excellent against Tottenham last Sunday, scoring through Raul Jimenez and Leander Dendoncker to register a two-goal victory in North London, and they will now be bidding to record their 12th victory of the 2021-22 Premier League season.

Wolves have been much better on their travels this term, though, boasting just the 15th-best home record in the Premier League, while they have scored just eight times at Molineux in the league this term.

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Leicester were expected to challenge for a top-four spot this season, but that has not been the case, with the Foxes struggling for consistency for much of the campaign, currently sitting down in 11th position.

The Foxes have won seven, drawn six and lost nine of their 22 league matches to collect 27 points, which has left them 16 points off the top four, while they are 10 points behind their opponents in this match.

Brendan Rodgers's side came extremely close to picking up what would have been a morale-boosting three points at home to West Ham last Sunday, but Craig Dawson levelled the scores in the final exchanges, with the points being shared in a 2-2 draw at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester have therefore not won in the league since overcoming Liverpool on December 28, picking up just two points from their last four matches against Tottenham, Brighton & Hove Albion, Liverpool and West Ham.

However, the Foxes will enter this contest off the back of a positive result, having recorded a 4-1 victory over Randers in the first leg of their Europa Conference League knockout round playoff clash on Thursday.

Team News

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Wolves boss Lage said during his pre-match press conference that he has a fully-fit squad, with long-term absentee Pedro Neto in contention to play, while Joao Moutinho has also recovered from injury.

Moutinho is expected to slot back into central midfield alongside Ruben Neves and Dendoncker, while Jimenez could again be joined by Daniel Podence at centre-forward, although Hwang Hee-chan is also pushing to start.

Head coach Lage has plenty of options in the final third, with Trincao and Fabio Silva also available, but there are unlikely to be any surprises at the back, with the impressive Max Kilman featuring alongside Conor Coady and Romain Saiss in a back three.

As for Leicester, James Maddison and Caglar Soyuncu both had to be substituted during Thursday's European affair, and the pair are unlikely to be available for this contest.

As a result, Jannik Vestergaard could feature alongside Daniel Amartey in the middle of the defence, while Ricardo Pereira and Luke Thomas should be back in the full-back areas.

The Foxes still have a long list of absentees, though, with Timothy Castagne, Wesley Fofana, James Justin, Ryan Bertrand, Jamie Vardy and Jonny Evans all on the treatment table.

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Kilman, Coady, Saiss; Semedo, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Neves, Ait-Nouri; Jimenez, Podence

Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Pereira, Amartey, Vestergaard, Thomas; Tielemans, Ndidi; Lookman, Dewsbury-Hall, Barnes; Daka

We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Leicester City

Wolves have struggled for consistency at home this season, but Lage's side will be feeling good about themselves at the moment, and Leicester's injury problems mean that they will again be missing a number of key players here. As a result, we are expecting the home side to collect all three points this weekend.

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