A pivotal relegation battle near the foot of the Premier League table takes place on Saturday, as Wolverhampton Wanderers welcome Bournemouth to Molineux.

Julen Lopetegui's 10 men came away from Southampton with a 2-1 win last time out, while the Cherries impressively held Newcastle United to a 1-1 draw.

Match preview

Wolves boss Lopetegui made no bones about his side's 'heroic' display during their South Coast battle with Southampton last weekend, where fierce protests from Mario Lemina - already on a yellow card - warranted a sending off for the midfielder while Wolves were 1-0 down.

New signing Carlos Alcaraz made an immediate impression with the St Mary's faithful, scoring the opening goal in the 24th minute, but Jan Bednarek's comical own goal preceded an 87th-minute Joao Gomes winner to propel the 10 men of Wolves over the line.

Defeat to Lopetegui's men spelled the end of Nathan Jones's weird and wacky time in the Southampton hotseat, while further easing any demotion fears that Wolves may have following their eye-catching 3-0 win over Liverpool earlier this month.

With three victories to show from their last four Premier League battles, Wolves have cemented themselves in 15th place in the Premier League table - five points clear of the dreaded dotted line and within touching distance of Crystal Palace, Leicester City and Nottingham Forest.

There will inevitably be more twists and turns to come in the basement battle, but Wolves' Premier League credentials are belatedly beginning to show, as they enter the weekend having only lost to both Manchester clubs in their seven league games since the World Cup.

West Ham United and Liverpool have both fallen to defeat without scoring at Molineux in 2023, and not since 1969 have Wolves won three successive top-flight home games while keeping a clean sheet each time, but Saturday's game is no doubt a prime opportunity to match that 55-year-old feat.

Welcoming Eddie Howe back to the Vitality Stadium for another South Coast reunion, Bournemouth made the most of Newcastle's weariness following the 350-mile journey, holding the stalemate specialists to yet another low-scoring draw.

Prior to coming off injured, Marcos Senesi prodded Bournemouth in front on the half-hour mark, but Miguel Almiron was on hand to level proceedings just before the break, and no more goals were to be had in the second 45 minutes.

Despite performing valiantly in three successive matches with Nottingham Forest, Brighton & Hove Albion and now Newcastle, attempting to put three points on the board is still a fruitless task for Gary O'Neil's team, who are languishing in 19th but just one point adrift of safety.

Still without a top-flight win since defeating Everton just before the World Cup break, the Cherries have taken just two points from the last 21 on offer in the Premier League while also suffering an abysmal six successive away defeats - failing to score in each of their last four.

A one-way ticket back down to the Championship will be theirs should they fail to improve their fortunes away from home, although the Cherries did hold Wolves to a goalless stalemate back in August - their fifth-straight game without a win versus the hosts since winning a 2015 Championship battle 2-1.

Team News

Wolves midfielder Lemina will serve a one-match suspension on Saturday after controversially seeing red in the win over Southampton, which will certainly benefit Gomes's chances of coming in for a start after his dramatic late winner at St Mary's.

The long-term quartet of Boubacar Traore, Sasa Kalajdzic, Chiquinho and Hwang Hee-chan all remain out of contention for Wolves, who are also sweating over the fitness of Daniel Podence as the Portuguese attacker battles a muscular strain.

Both Joao Moutinho and Rayan Ait-Nouri were taken off at half time last weekend as Lopetegui adjusted to Lemina's red card, and the latter in particular is at risk of losing his spot to Hugo Bueno.

As for the visitors, Senesi took a blow to the back against Newcastle and had to come off early in the second half, but O'Neil is confident that the issue will not rule him out of Saturday's match.

Senesi's expected availability will come as a relief while new signing Ilya Zabarnyi works his way back from a foot injury, and the Cherries are also still without Lewis Cook, David Brooks and Lloyd Kelly, but Junior Stanislas has returned to training and is in contention.

A fit-again Marcus Tavernier will challenge Jaidon Anthony for his place on the left-hand side, but O'Neil should otherwise keep changes to a minimum this week.

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Bueno; Nunes, Neves, Gomes; Traore, Jimenez, Cunha

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Neto; Smith, Stephens, Senesi, Zemura; Ouattara, Billing, Lerma, Tavernier; Traore; Solanke

We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Bournemouth

While Wolves appear to have turned a corner since the World Cup, Bournemouth have not, and the Cherries' dreadful streak in front of goal away from home is showing no signs of ending anytime soon.

Coupled with the hosts' recent defensive exploits at Molineux, we can only envisage Lopetegui's team continuing their revival with a professional performance and three points to match, further boosting their survival hopes at the expense of the Cherries'.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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