Wolves vs Everton: Gold Standard at Molineux

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Everton

Premier League football returns to Wolverhampton after a six-year absence, and the Midlands’ fans have a treat in store when the Toffees come to town.

Games like these seemed a million miles away when the once-great Wolves languished in the third tier of English football after back-to-back relegations, but they rolled their sleeves up and got an almighty lift when Fosun International took over the club in 2016.

Wolves stormed the Championship last season and are now back in the big league, where their first opponents are a team in their own period of transition. Everton fans hope a turbulent 12 months can soon be forgotten.

These are early days, but Wolves vs Everton might even be a clash of Europa League hopefuls.

Talking Points

There’s been something of a revolution at Molineux over the past couple of years, and fans are dreaming that a return to the All-Gold glory years could just be around the corner. Since the takeover by their Chinese owners and a close relationship with super agent Jorge Mendes, Wolves have swept all before them in a return to the Premier League. SBOBET analysts will surely be watching them closely in the coming weeks.

Former Porto boss Nuno Espirito Santo led them to the league title with 99 points, holding on to the top spot since early November. That was no surprise after they had signed Ruben Neves for a Championship-record £16m, alongside premier quality talent including Diogo Jota, who top scored with 17 goals, and defender Willy Boly. Both have now signed permanent deals after taking Wolves up last season.

Wolves have been spending big again in an attempt to assure their stay in the top flight is not a one-off. They have tied Neves to a new contract to 2023, and that will delight Wolves fans who enjoyed his spectacular goals last term. He’s sure to feature in the Wolves vs Everton highlights. And they have pulled off a real coup, very early in the transfer window, in attracting Portugal keeper Rui Patricio. So good is he that there is a statue made of his brilliant one-handed save to deny Antoine Griezmann in the 2016 Euro Final in his hometown of Leiria.

The 30-year-old stopper was one of a number of Sporting Lisbon players to terminate their contracts after being attacked by angry fans following their failure to qualify for the Champions League. Luckily for Rui, Wolves have high expectations with their older fans that have a dose of reality!

Wolves vs Everton: Rui Patricio could feature on the Molineux clash — Summer signing Rui Patricio made his Wolves debut against Bochum

After hiring the specialist services of Sam Allardyce last season, Everton have dispensed with the arch pragmatist’s services and recruited the coach they always wanted in Marco Silva. The former Watford boss has impressed during his early career, with stunning successes at Sporting and Olympiacos, but still has much to prove in the Premier League.

Silva was helicoptered in to try to save Hull City in 2017, which he narrowly failed to do, and his Watford side last season enjoyed an impressive start before nose-diving as soon as Silva’s head was turned by overtures from Goodison Park. He has undoubted talent as a coach, but we have yet to see how well he can manage with greater expectations.

The Toffees fans believe they deserve better than Big Sam’s guaranteed survival and mid-table finish, so they’ll have their sights set on seventh again! That’s the best they can realistically hope for, and much will depend on the form of England keeper Jordan Pickford in his second season on Merseyside. £40 million for Watford’s Richarlison seems like a mighty punt, but they look set to land Barca defender Yerry Mina to give them the backbone needed to succeed.

History

Wolves vs Everton: Marco Silva will hope his side hits the ground running in Molineux clash — Marco Silva reign begins away at Wolves on Saturday

This Wolves team is ready-made for the Premier League and has had a decent pre-season, beating Villarreal last time out. The Toffees have lost their last five games, including a 4-1 defeat to Rennes and a 3-0 loss to newly-promoted Championship side Blackburn Rovers.

In the Premier League era, Wolves won only once against the Toffees, losing three times and drawing four. The last meeting was a rather depressing 0-0 draw as the Molineux faithful said goodbye to the top flight back in May 2012.

But this time, I expect it to be quite different.

Betting Tip

	Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Everton	Under 2.25 Goals @ 2.01
	August 12, 00:30 (GMT+8)

The Wolves vs Everton odds tell a story of a tight game with three very possible results.

The hosts are slight favourites at 2.29 with the draw Draw at 3.15 and Everton 3.20.

A -0.25 handicap leaves Wolves at 2.01, and Everton are at 1.92 with that small advantage.

Over 2.25 Goals is at 1.89, and the double chance of a draw/draw could be interesting at 4.50.

While this isn’t exactly a baptism of fire for Nuno’s Wolves, the next visitors to the Black Country are champions Manchester City… and they amassed 100 points last season!

So they really need a good start here.