Wolves V West Ham 20.11.21 - build up & matchday

[Tony Towner]

thought I would check out some West Ham views on Knees Up Mother Brown and they appear to have found us here. Tony - you are getting a reaction on there with your comments about Antonio.

I assume negative? If they think Antonio could play the role for us that Raul does then they don't understand what he does. I wasn't being critical, he's a good player and suits them perfectly. They've got a system that brings the best out of the players they have. Whereas Wolves' is there to hide the limitations of ours

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

You got a laughing emoji (remember those, he says wistfully…) and the next poster pointed out that Raul is very good at exactly what you said.

 

[darlowolf64]

My ticket still up for grabs for this...

 

[PuntsWolf]

There were mitigating circumstances, but you aren't going to get away with handling the ball there. Your best case is a foul for dangerous play. I was livid at the time thoughView attachment 4588

I was fuming at the time but then you see the angle behind Mike Dean and Doc is a good 3 yards away from Wood, so wasn’t actually in any danger of gettting kicked.

Seem to remember he did something similar in and around that time too and got away with it. Then we all realised Doc jumps with his hands up if ever there’s anyone near him.

 

[Tredman]

We’ve gone backwards

https://twitter.com/x/status/1461646684434403334

 

[Sniffer]

Ait Nouri will play tomorrow even though Marcal has recovered from injury.

Jordao back in training and could be part of the squad.

 

[Paul]

We’ve gone backwards

Aaah Jonny

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

We’ve gone backwards

https://twitter.com/x/status/1461646684434403334

Watching this makes me miss Jonny...

 

[Tredman]

Watching this makes me miss Jonny...

But not his finishing abiliity..

 

[Tony Towner]

From the team that played that day to the one who likely will tomorrow
Out
Patricio, Jonny, Bennett, Jota, Doherty, Dendoncker
In
Sa, RAN, Kilman, Semedo, Trincao, Hwang

The 11 is weaker 3 years on and the formation less effective

 

[Tredman]

Jota is the only one which stands out and we had zero chance of keeping him when Liverpool came knocking.

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

But not his finishing abiliity..

Aye, but his defending., pure class, I love the little Spaniard

 

[Tony Towner]

I don't believe that, but not having that circular discussion again

 

[The Bear]

From the team that played that day to the one who likely will tomorrow
Out
Patricio, Jonny, Bennett, Jota, Doherty, Dendoncker
In
Sa, RAN, Kilman, Semedo, Trincao, Hwang

The 11 is weaker 3 years on and the formation less effective

Jonny is down to injury. Other than Jota, the rest are as good or better.

 

[Jinky]

I'm all over a West Ham win here at odds-against.

Having spent most of last season thinking the bubble will burst for David Moyes as he oversaw a classic case of overachievement, I've completely changed my view based on continued excellent and consistent performances from the Hammers. Moyes has gone back to what made his Everton side so dangerous, making West Ham a tough outfit that play very much as a team and one that carry a huge goal threat.

The 100/30 with Sky Bet for them to finish in the top four would be a serious bet for me if I had faith in Michail Antonio's body to hold up from injury. Here though, at 7/5 with Sky Bet, they are a generous price to beat a Wolves team that look on the downgrade following an impressive start to life under Bruno Lage.

Since beating Watford in September, Wolves have gone flat in forward areas. In their last seven matches, they have posted just 54 shots - that's 16 fewer than any other team. An expected goals figure of 7.4 in that period is fine on first viewing but dig a little deeper and it becomes a tad more worrying. All of those seven fixtures have come against teams not in the top nine of the Premier League table. Crystal Palace were insanely comfortable in their 2-0 victory before the international break, with Wolves recording an expected goals figure of just 0.28.

The Hammers have lost just one of their last 17 games away from home against teams that finished ninth or lower according to last season's table and won 12 of those 17, including beating Wolves 3-2 last season. That's a 71 per cent win-rate and we're getting odds-against here.

Moyes' boys are perfectly equipped to get the job done in these type of games.

SCORE PREDICTION: 0-2

BETTING ANGLE: West Ham to win (7/5 with Sky Bet)

From Sky Sports. The bit in bold above doesn't make for pleasant reading. Yeah...

 

[Sniffer]

...or since losing to Brentford in September Wolves have won 4, drew one and lost one. The results make far more pleasant reading than his stats suggest!

I agree that the odds on a West Ham win are very generous.

 

[Paul]

I think we'll all be pleasantly surprised

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

That helmet isn’t doing a review of the game. It’s a puff from sky sports to get you to place bets. The column should be banned.

 

[prawnking]

We’ve gone backwards

https://twitter.com/x/status/1461646684434403334

I'm pretty sure that we were 8th in the league after we beat them, same as now...

 

[Jinky]

That helmet isn’t doing a review of the game. It’s a puff from sky sports to get you to place bets. The column should be banned.

I don't disagree with the sentiment, but he raises a fair point over the stats. 16 fewer shots than any other team in the league over the last 7 games is a worrying statistic, however it's dressed up.

He's also correct in saying we were easily swept to one side as soon as we played a half decent team (in Palace) & West Ham are a much better side than them.

Obviously we all live in hope, though!