Preview: Wolves v West Ham

Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers previews the clash.

Preamble

It's been an exciting few weeks in the life of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Wins over Spurs at Wembley and Liverpool in the FA Cup, a thrilling last-minute 4-3 win over Leicester and then a last-ditch comeback at Shrewsbury on Saturday.

But you get the distinct impression Nuno Espirito Santo will settle for a boring, dull, uneventful 1-0 win over West Ham United tomorrow night.

Wolves have conceded 11 goals in five games. That's most 'un-Wolves-like' under their Portuguese head coach, who has a penchant for a solid, tight, clean-sheet-keeping defence first and foremost from any team he manages.

Individual errors have crept into their game and, while Wolves just about got over the line against Leicester and just about salvaged their FA Cup campaign at the Meadow, Nuno know they can't keep relying on late drama.

There's also the small matter of trying to earn three important points against one of their 'mini league' rivals.

The gap from Watford in seventh to Brighton in 13th is just seven points. With a trip to Everton to follow at the weekend, a couple of positive or negative results can see Wolves in either a very healthy position indeed, or trying to make up ground again.

The opposition

West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini was glad to draw a line under the Marko Arnautovic saga after admitting it had affected his side’s performances.

Austria striker Arnautovic had his head turned by a big-money offer from China and was left out of the squad for the defeat at Bournemouth and Saturday’s FA Cup humiliation at AFC Wimbledon.

But less than half-an-hour after the Wimbledon debacle, West Ham suddenly announced that the 29-year-old had signed a contract extension.

Hammers boss Pellegrini – not at all impressed by the whole drawn-out saga – refused to even discuss Arnautovic’s new deal following their abject 4-2 defeat.

But ahead of tonight’s trip to Wolves, where Arnautovic is expected to go straight back into the starting line-up, Pellegrini opened up on the issue.

“I have a lot of excuses why we lost at Wimbledon, one of those was that the January transfer window can cause damage to the team,” he said.

“For all the issues that a player wants to go, they have other options.

“But I am happy that Marko has finished his issue, he is happy here. I hope that we will have the player that he can be in the coming games.

“A lot of things affect the players, that’s why I don’t want to continue talking about that because I don’t want to make excuses."

Pelligrini expects a reaction from his players after Wimbledon defeat.

"I expect a reaction following the Wimbledon game when we travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers in Tuesday night, of course," he said.

"We need one because the motivation of the Premier League, against Wolves, will be different. That does not mean the FA Cup did not motivate us, but maybe less so, and that is what made the difference.

"When you play the Premier League it is different, as every game is a final."

Team news

Willy Boly sits out the third game of a three-match suspension for Wolves.

Nuno said on Monday he had no fresh injury worries ahead of the game.

Arnautovic is likely to come straight back into the XI. Fellow striker Lucas Perez is out with an ankle knock and Jack Wilshere, Fabian Balbuena, Andriy Yarmolenko, Manuel Lanzini, Winston Reid and Carlos Sanchez are still injured.

Likely line ups

Wolves (3-5-2): Patricio; Bennett, Coady, Saiss; Doherty, Neves, Moutinho, Dendoncker, Otto; Jimenez, Jota. Subs: Ruddy, Kilman, Vinagre, Gibbs-White, Costa, Cavaleiro, Traore.

West Ham (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Zabaleta, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Noble, Rice; Snodgrass, Nasri, Anderson; Arnautovic.

Key players

Wolves – Conor Coady

Improvements are needed at the back and Conor Coady’s organisation and communication will be needed as well as his defensive nous.

West Ham – Marko Arnautovic

Looked set to leave for China this month and hasn’t been picked since January 12 as a result ­– but a hefty new contract offer has persuaded him to stay with West Ham. Arnautovic has been their talisman this season with nine goals in 23 appearances and is likely to be brought back into the team.

The bosses

Nuno Espirito Santo: "What I know and I’m sure of is that we have to improve defensively, we’re conceding too many goals, especially at Molineux.

Manuel Pellegrini: "I expect a reaction after the Wimbledon game. The race for seventh place is not against Wolverhampton only, but against all the teams in that mid-table position because, unless something very strange happens the top six positions are already confirmed. I think Everton, Wolverhampton, Leicester, Watford and our team are fighting for the seventh position and Wolverhampton are one of our rivals.

Form

Wolves DWLWL

Jan 26: Shrewsbury Town 2 (Docherty 46, Waterfall 72) Wolves 2 (Jimenez 75, Doherty 90+3) *FA Cup

Jan 19: Wolves 4 (Jota 4, 64, 90+3, Bennett 12) Leicester 3 (Gray 47, Coady OG 51, Morgan 87)

Jan 14: Manchester City 3 (Jesus 10, pen 39, Coady OG 78) Wolves 0

Jan 7: Wolves 2 (Jimenez 38, Neves 55) Liverpool 1 (Origi 51) *FA Cup

Jan 2: Wolves 0 Crystal Palace 2 (Ayew 83, Milivojevic 90+5)

West Ham LLWWD

Jan 26: AFC Wimbledon 4 (Appiah 34, Wagstaff 41, 46, Sibbick 88) West Ham 2 (Perez 57, Anderson 71) *FA Cup

Jan 19: Bournemouth 2 (Wilson 53, King 90+1) West Ham 0

Jan 12: West Ham 1 (Rice 48) Arsenal 0

Jan 5: West Ham 2 (Arnautovic 2, Carroll 90+1) Birmingham 0 *FA Cup

Jan 2: West Ham 2 (Arnautovic 66, 68) Brighton 2 (Stephens 56, Duffy 58)

Past five meetings

Sep 1, 2018 (PL): West Ham 0 Wolves 1 (Traore 90+3)

Jan 16, 2016 (FA Cup): West Ham 1 (Jelavic 84) Wolves 0

Jan 1, 2011 (PL): West Ham 2 (Zubar OG 51, Sears 79) Wolves 0

Oct 16, 2010 (PL): Wolves 1 (Jarvis 10) West Ham 1 (Noble pen 53)

Mar 23, 2010 (PL): West Ham 1 (Franco 90) Wolves 3 (Doyle 28, Zubar 58, Jarvis 61*)

Referee

David Coote (Nottinghamshire)

EFL referee who has been promoted to the Premier League for six games so far this season.

Shown five red cards in only 18 games in all competitions.

Match odds

Wolves 21/20, draw 5/2, West Ham 13/5