Chelsea vs. Wolves, Premier League: Preview, team news, how to watch
Today at 12:35 PM
Must-win
We're only about halfway through the winter, but Chelsea are certainly hoping to snap out of our winter blues as we take on one of the worst teams in the Premier League on Monday night at Stamford Bridge. Wolves come into the weekend safe only on goals-scored, ahead of Ipswich Town and Leicester City (and the pretty much already-relegated Southampton).
Still, they have collected four more points than we have in the last five: three draws and two defeats is all we have to show for our efforts since mid-December, which is especially concerning as two of those games involved teams in the relegation battle just like Wolves.
The slump has coincided with much of the top half of the league getting their acts together, and we now find ourselves in a massive scrap for a top-six finish. With Liverpool well out ahead and Arsenal and Nottingham Forest(!) looking comfortable in the top three, that fourth Champions League qualification spot is looking far more elusive than it did just a few short weeks ago.
We can finish the weekend in fourth, but we have to get our own act together first.
Date / Time: Monday, January 20, 2025, 20.00 GMT; 3pm EST; 1:30am IST (next day)
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Simon Hooper (on pitch); Matt Donohue (VAR)
Forecast: Cold and dry
On TV: Sky Sports Main Event (UK); USA, Telemundo (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); SuperSport Premier League (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Disney+ Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill have been the first names on every Premier League team sheet so far, but they are doubtful for this one, as are Enzo Fernández and Roméo Lavia, who were the starting midfield duo in some of our biggest games this season, including in Tuesday's 2-2 draw against rampant AFC Bournemouth. Meanwhile, Wesley Fofana, Benoît Badiashile, and the lesser spotted Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall remain out. Also unavailable are Mykhailo Mudryk (suspended) and Cesare Casadei and Carney Chukwuemeka (in the shop window).
In better news, Reece James has now made it two appearances without an injury or a setback, and even scored a wonderful late equalizer on Tuesday. We also have some defensive reinforcement following the recall of Trevoh Chalobah from Crystal Palace. (Aarón Anselmino is also here now, but he's unlikely to feature anytime soon.)
This will be our 11th home league match of the season. We have just 4 wins from the first ten (with another 4 draws). That's a fairly sad state of affairs, and the pressure and anxiety are only going to get higher if it continues.
Wolverhampton Wanderers team news: Wolves started the season with a 10-match winless run in the league, collecting just 3 points, so the 13 points won from the 11 since count as a massive improvement. They did wait until the 16th match to sack Gary O'Neil, with new boss Vítor Pereira, formerly a title-winner with FC Porto and also with (Oscar's) Shanghai SIPG, providing a small bounce but now losing his last two by matching 3-0 scorelines.
Wolves in fact have the Premier League's worst defensive record, having conceded 48 times in their 21 games, including the six we scored against them back in August at Molineux. We certainly could use a few those goals now, having scored just four times in our last five league games (three of them by the hobbled Palmer).
But just as we're sweating the fitness of our leading goalscorer, Wolves are doing the same with Matheus Cunha (10 in 20) dealing with the flu. Additionally, Yerson Mosquera and Saša Kalajdžić are out with long-term injuries while Boubacar Traoré is working his way back from one. Center back Toti is also out while midfielder Mario Lemina has gotten himself embroiled in a transfer situation. He has apparently apologized for asking to be left out midweek, and could be back in the squad.
Previously: The aforementioned 6-2 win ended an unconscionable three-match losing streak against Wolves for us. It was an impressive scoreline to be sure, though we might recall that it was only 2-2 at the half ... and our second halves have been horrendous of late.
