Team news and stats ahead of Wolves vs Chelsea in the Premier League on Tuesday evening (kick-off 6pm).
Team news
Joao Moutinho is banned for Wolves' visit of Chelsea on Tuesday. The midfielder was dismissed for collecting two yellow cards in Saturday's 1-0 defeat to local rivals Aston Villa.
Raul Jimenez is continuing the early stages of his recovery from the fractured skull he suffered last month and has been spending time with the squad at the club's training ground, while Jonny (knee) remains out.
Christian Pulisic returns to the Chelsea squad. The American winger has been sidelined by a hamstring problem but has trained well since the weekend and is in contention to start should Frank Lampard decide to change the team that lost at Everton on Saturday.
Fellow wingers Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi both need more time to recover from their hamstring injuries.
How to follow
Follow Wolves vs Chelsea in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.
Jones Knows Prediction
Chelsea are an improved unit this season, don't let the Everton game fool you. It was just a minor bump.
Since the turn of the year, Frank Lampard's team have only won five Premier League games away from Stamford Bridge - 11 teams have won more. It is a run of results which is backed up by their numbers in attack. For example, in their six games on the road this season, their expected goals figure is just 6.49 - only Burnley, Newcastle, Wolves and West Brom have a lower total on the road and, staggeringly, bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United have a higher figure!
Wolves have a terrible recent record vs Chelsea, losing 7-2 on aggregate over the two meetings last season, and have lost back-to-back games in preparation for this one, but their progress, to my eye, and the data still makes them a top-eight ranked team. They have won the 'xG battle' in every home game bar the defeat to Manchester City.
If they can soak up the Chelsea possession in the same vein as Everton, their counter-attacking style could hurt Chelsea. At over 4/1 they are the value call.
JONES KNOWS PREDICTS: 2-1 (14/1 with Sky Bet)
Opta stats
- Only against Liverpool (10) have Wolves lost more Premier League games than they have versus Chelsea (9), while they've conceded more goals against the Blues than they have any other side in the competition (32).
- Chelsea have only failed to score in one of their last 17 top-flight meetings with Wolves, doing so in a 0-1 loss at Molineux in January 2011.
- Since returning to the Premier League in 2018, Wolves have won six of their eight home midweek games in the competition (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday), losing the other two. One of those victories was a 2-1 win over Chelsea in December 2018.
- Chelsea have lost just one of their last 20 Premier League games played on a Tuesday (W12 D7), with that defeat coming at Liverpool in May 2012 (1-4).
- Wolves have lost their last two Premier League games and are looking to avoid three consecutive defeats in the competition for the first time since November 2018.
- Chelsea are looking to avoid back-to-back Premier League defeats for the first time since December 2019, the first of which was away at Everton.
- Each of Chelsea's last seven away Premier League scorers at Molineux have been English (Lampard, Loftus-Cheek, Tomori, Abraham x3, Mount), while none of Wolves' four home goals against the Blues in the competition have been scored by an Englishman (excl. own goals).
- Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has scored six goals in his four league appearances against Wolves, netting a hat-trick in Chelsea's 5-2 win in this exact fixture last season.
Source: Sky Sports