Kick-off: 1800, 27/01/2021
Stadium: Stamford Bridge
TV: BT Sport
Chelsea begin life after Frank Lampard’s exit with what looks a very winnable Premier League match against Wolves at Stamford Bridge.
The visitors have lacked balance since losing star striker Raul Jimenez to injury and a poor run of results now seems to be really affecting their confidence.
Obviously, the Blues have had problems of their own but are still only five points off the top four ahead of Thomas Tuchel’s arrival.
We’re going for a home win and under 3.5 goals in the game at 6/5 for our first Chelsea vs Wolves prediction.
A Look At Chelsea’s Betting Odds
Chelsea received a welcome boost with Sunday’s 3-1 FA Cup triumph over Luton, thanks to Tammy Abraham hitting a hat-trick.
The Hatters had their moments in that tie, but it was a positive display from the Blues going forward, even though Timo Werner missed a late penalty.
That wasn’t enough to save Lampard, who became the 10th manager to be sacked by Roman Abramovich since the Russian took control of the club in 2003.
A club statement read: “There can never be a good time to part ways with a club legend such as Frank.
“But after lengthy deliberation and consideration it was decided a change is needed now to give the club time to improve performances and results this season.”
The hope is that former PSG and Borussia Dortmund boss Tuchel, who started his managerial career with Augsburg and then Mainz, can use his Bundesliga experience to get the best out of Werner and club-record signing Kai Havertz.
Chelsea had previously gone down 2-0 at Leicester to taste defeat for the fifth time in eight league matches, falling to ninth in table.
The Blues have only scored more than one goal in a game once during that poor run of top-flight results, so a cautious approach may be on the cards here.
However, we do favour a home win and Draw HT/Chelsea FT appeals at 7/2 from the Chelsea vs Wolves odds.
Last Chelsea line-up: Kepa, Christensen, Zouma, James, Emerson, Pulisic, Mount, Ziyech, Gilmour, Abraham, Werner.
A Look At Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Betting Odds
Wolves can take heart from having won 2-1 when these teams met at Molineux last month, with Pedro Neto grabbing a dramatic decider in stoppage time.
However, that was their only win in nine league games since Jimenez suffered a fractured skull at Arsenal a fortnight earlier.
Following back-to-back home defeats versus Everton and West Brom, Wanderers just about managed to scrape a 1-0 FA Cup victory at non-league Chorley on Friday night.
A stunning strike from Vitinha put them ahead on 12 minutes, but that was the visitors’ only shot on target as sixth-tier Chorley more than held their own.
Nuno Espirito Santo pointed to a poor pitch as one excuse, but admitted: “We didn’t play well – not fast, not good.
“In the second half, we almost didn’t break Chorley, so I was a little bit disappointed on that, but I realise how hard the conditions were and credit to them.
“Now we have to focus on the next game, a very tough one against Chelsea, and we will require improvement from everybody.”
Bringing in Brazilian striker Willian Jose from Real Sociedad is a step in the right direction, but the 29-year-old is not expected to be available for this trip.
To be fair, Wolves have come out on the wrong end of some close encounters during their current slump.
Although losing seven of their last 12 league games is a worrying record, six of those defeats came by the narrowest of margins.
We’re going with 5/2 for the Blues to claim any form of one-goal victory to finish off our Chelsea vs Wolves betting tips.
Last Wolves line-up: Ruddy, Hoever, Ait Nouri, Boly, Coady, Kilman, Ferreira, Moutinho, Dendoncker, Silva, Cutrone.
Additional stats
Last result:
CHELSEA 3-1 Luton – Tammy Abraham (3)
Chorley 0-1 WOLVES – Vitinha
Head-to-head: Wolves 2-1 Chelsea, Chelsea 2-0 Wolves, Wolves 2-5 Chelsea, Chelsea 1-1 Wolves, Wolves 2-1 Chelsea
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