Premier League: Chelsea Have the Weekend to Work it Out

Chelsea vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Monday night football comes to Stamford Bridge as the Premier League game between Chelsea and Wolves is set to bring down the curtain on another huge weekend of top-flight football.

With league leaders Liverpool away to Brentford and second place chasers Arsenal entertaining Aston Villa, there may be points dropped at the top end of the table, and that will be of mild interest to Chelsea fans. Meanwhile, Wolves supporters will be watching their relegation rivals in action, with Ipswich at home to Manchester City catching the eye.

Not long ago, Chelsea were forcing their way into the title race, but a run of five games without a league win has seen them drop to fifth place in the league table behind a resurgent Newcastle United and with Manchester City breathing down their necks. Enzo Maresca is under pressure for the first time since he took over as head coach in the summer.   

Meanwhile, Vitor Pereira’s honeymoon as Wolverhampton Wanderers head coach seems to have ended on Tyneside, as high-flying Newcastle United thumped his team 3-0, while Chelsea’s frustrating run continued with a 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth. The Premier League 2025 betting odds say this game is a nailed-on home win, and the pressure is clearly greater on the hosts, so Maresca will use the weekend wisely to set his team up to get back on track.    

 

Talking Points

Chelsea’s blunt attack must sharpen up

It was going so well for Chelsea in 2024, and there has been confident talk of a return to Champions League football at Stamford Bridge. But progress has rather gone off the rails, and the Blues haven’t been able to win in January.

It took a stoppage time free-kick from returned captain Reece James to save a point against Bournemouth on Tuesday after the Cherries had turned the game around following Cole Palmer’s opener. The attacking midfielder has 14 goals and six assists already this season, and he is now one of the hottest properties on the planet. But he can’t do it all on his own. Striker Nicolas Jackson was also in a rich vein of form before Christmas and has nine goals for the season, but his luck has run out recently, and he missed three presentable chances against Bournemouth.

Jackson wasn’t alone in his wastefulness in front of goal, and the Chelsea front six will be completing some serious shooting drills this week I’m sure, maybe without the ever-dependable Palmer.

 

Wolves must sort the Lemina problem quickly

Pereira is doing his best to bring his squad together in readiness for a fierce relegation battle, but he has a big problem to sort out in the shape of club captain Mario Lemina, who has made it clear he is not up for the fight and apparently refused to play in the 3-0 loss to Newcastle. Fans and, presumably, Lemina’s teammates are less than impressed by his behaviour, as he tries to manufacture a lucrative move to Al-Shabab in the Saudi Pro League.

Wolves will be happy to wave goodbye to their midfielder if a fee of £5 million is paid, pocket change for the Saudis, and they have another two weeks to sort this out. But if they can get shut off their wantaway star this weekend, they can concentrate on the players who do want to dig Wolves out of their hole, as they sit precariously in 17^th and ahead of 18^th-placed Ipswich on goal difference alone.

In other pre-match Premier League 2025 news, despite the loss to the Magpies, Pereira was pleased with his team’s efforts and with good reason as they managed seven shots on target, two more than their hosts. But they were undone by the clinical form of Alexander Isak with the Wolves defence worryingly exposed.

With 48 goals conceded, the All Golds have the worst defence in the league, and that is an area Pereira must work on. He introduced Emmanuel Agbadou for his debut, but he struggled at times, and he will look to the experienced Matt Doherty to bring his back four together.       

 

History

The Blues usually enjoy playing the All Golds, with a 13 to six record in the head-to-heads, and Maresca’s men slapped the Wolves 6-2 when the two teams met at Molineux back in August. Though last season, this fixture resulted in a shock 4-2 win for Wolves.   

And with three wins, one draw, and two defeats from the past six games Wolverhampton’s recent form has been better than Chelsea’s one win, three draws, and two defeats.

 

Betting Tip

Chelsea are priced at SBOTOP odds of 1.30 to win this match with Wolves at 6.37 and the draw is at 5.03, with the Double Chance: Wolves or Draw at 3.06.

This is an intriguing game between two teams with problems to solve, and I think Wolves do all they can to tighten up at the back and test Chelsea’s strikers. 

   

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