Wolves v Brighton | Match Preview, Odds and Prediction
Wolverhampton Wanderers host Brighton & Hove Albion at Molineux on Saturday afternoon and will be desperate to bounce back after their opening-day defeat in the Premier League. The Old Gold suffered a narrow and controversial loss to a lacklustre Manchester United, so they’ll believe they can get a result against Brighton despite the Seagulls’ bright start.
Albion got the new season off to a winning start, thrashing newly-promoted Luton Town 4-1, so they’ll also fancy getting all three points in the Midlands. The Seagulls finished higher in the table last season, boasted the superior squad, and got the better of Wolves in recent head-to-heads. Whether home advantage favours the Old Gold remains to be seen though.
Wolves finished 13th in the Premier League last season with only 41 points, losing 50% of their matches. Gary O’Neil was recently appointed manager after Julen Lopetegui left on the eve of the new campaign, so preparations for 2023/24 have been chaotic. The Old Gold are 3/1 with Unibet To Win but underdogs with the bookmakers. Brighton are 19/20 with Bet UK To Win while Wolves and Brighton are 14/5 with Matchbook To Draw.
Brighton finished sixth in the league last season with 62 points, winning almost 50% of their matches. The Seagulls were full of goals (72) but also conceded readily (53), so it wouldn’t be a shock to see a goal-laden affair at Molineux. Both Teams To Score is 4/6 with 888 Sport.
Wolves averaged more than one goal conceded per home game last season while Brighton shipped 1.7 goals per game on the road, so Total Goals Over 1.5 is 2/9 with Betfred. Total Goals Over 2.5 is 8/11 with Bet 365. As for who could score the goals, Wolves didn’t have a player with more than six goals in the league last season.
Daniel Podence was the joint top goalscorer in 2022/23 and is 12/1 with Bet 365 to be First Goalscorer while being 9/2 with Bet 365 to Score Anytime, but he wasn’t prolific. The bookmakers believe new boy Matheus Cunha might be the one to watch for the hosts. He shone in the defeat to United and is 9/1 with Boyle Sports to be First Goalscorer while being 17/5 with Bet UK to Score Anytime.
Brighton sold their top goalscorer from last season Alexis Mac Allister (10 goals from 35 PL games), but they still have Pascal Groß (14/1 with Spread Ex to be First Goalscorer, 11/2 with SpreadEx to Score Anytime) who bagged nine goals with eight assists, Kaoru Mitoma (9/1 with Boyle Sports to be First Goalscorer, 27/10 with William Hill to Score Anytime) who had a hand in 13 goals from 33 league games and Solly March (11/1 with Boyle Sports to be First Goalscorer 15/4 with Bet 365 to Score Anytime) who contributed 14 goals.
Evan Ferguson regularly leads the line now and has a bright future. He’s 11/2 with Boyle Sports to be First Goalscorer and 7/4 with Bet 365 to Score Anytime. Wolves will hope Hee-Chan Hwang can turn things around after struggling for goals last season. He’s 11/1 with Boyle Sports as First Goalscorer and 22/5 with Unibet to Score Anytime.
Brighton boast three wins from their last three head-to-heads with Wolves, so Saturday’s clash might go the way of the formbook.
Prediction: Wolves 1-2 Brighton
