Wolverhampton Wanderers

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.

For this weekend's games, he takes on singer-songwriter and Arsenal fan Sam Tompkins.

Sutton's prediction: 0-1

This is a massive game for Arsenal but it definitely helps them that Wolves are on a pretty terrible run, without a win in four games.

The talk this week about the Gunners has been whether the wheels are coming off for Mikel Arteta's side, but I don't think that's the case.

They maybe lacked a bit of composure in their defeat by Aston Villa but Villa have got some very good players, as do Bayern Munich, who beat them in Germany on Wednesday.

I'd put Arsenal's Champions League defeat down to their failure to win the first leg at Emirates Stadium, and it would have been a different story if Bukayo Saka hadn't dived when he was through on goal late on in that game.

I'm still probably basing this prediction more on Wolves' form than on Arsenal's but I do think the Gunners will find a way to win at Molineux.

I hope they do too, because I don't want Manchester City to have it all their own way in the run-in.

Sam's prediction: 0-3

This is a make or break game for us and I think the players will respond to that.

Read the rest of their predictions here

Gary O'Neil has been speaking to the media before Saturday night's Premier League match against Arsenal at Molineux.

Here are the key lines from the Wolves manager:

• The club have "replied" to the outstanding FA charge against him. They are waiting for the hearing, which he anticipates will "probably be in the next week or so": "Once we have gone through that process, everything will be out in the open and I can talk to you more openly about it."

• O'Neil offered updates on injury absentees. Pedro Neto is "on the grass" and he hopes the winger will feature before the end of the season "if all goes well". Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is "still out" and Craig Dawson "has had his operation".

• Meanwhile, Rayan Ait-Nouri could be available to feature on the bench after training today. Nelson Semedo and Matheus Cunha have been ruled out while Hwang Hee-chan will only be able to play for "45 minutes at most".

• The boss added: "So for the starting XI tomorrow, I have got 10 senior outfield players to pick from can last or start a football match. It's probably the worst situation we have been in, but lots of positives to come from that like loads of young players being involved and maybe a debut or two from the start of the game."

• On Arsenal: "I watch a lot of Arsenal's games. They are a fantastic watch. Mikel [Arteta] is doing a fantastic job. Even during this tough week, you can see how fine the margins are and they could have easily won at Bayern Munich, with the structure of the team and how he sets them up."

• He is expecting a "tough test" but thinks it will be an "interesting one" for the Gunners as well: "We are going to have a right go with what we have available. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to seeing how we can cope. In different moments, we learn a lot about each other and about sticking together."

• O'Neil believes that "asking anything of the supporters seems unfair", after their backing this season, but he said the players are going to "really need them this week" as they embark on three home games with "not too many players available".

• Wolves are "fully focused" on the last six games of the season and want to finish as high as they can after working "extremely hard" to get themselves to 11th in the Premier League. He added: "The aim is to keep pushing."

• On the decision to scrap FA Cup replays, O'Neil commented: "If I put my selfish Wolverhampton hat on - if we are going to run with a squad of 19 players, which we have this season, then the less games the better. I was quite strong around the fact I think they should be played on Saturdays so you get a full week's preparation. [That way] the game can be played seriously, and they aren't put in between two league games."

Follow Friday's Premier League news conferences here

Here are the key facts before Wolverhampton Wanderers host Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday (19:30 BST).

• After completing the league double over Arsenal in 2020-21, Wolves have now lost their past five against the Gunners, failing to score in both home defeats in that run.

• Arsenal have scored in their past 32 meetings with Wolves, their joint-longest scoring streak against an opponent.

• Wolves have lost three of their past five home league games - more than they had in their previous 15 at Molineux.

• The Gunners have kept a clean sheet in their past five away league games, their joint-longest such run (also five between February and April 1997). The last team to record a clean sheet in six consecutive Premier League away games was Liverpool between December and March in 2014-15.

• Matheus Cunha has been involved in nine goals in his past nine Premier League games, scoring six and assisting three. His 11 goals this season is the fourth most by a Wolves player in a Premier League campaign after Raul Jimenez (17 in 2019-20, 13 in 2018-19) and Steven Fletcher (12 in 2011-12)

• Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard has scored four goals in 16 substitute appearances in the Premier League this season, as many as he has in his 12 starts. He averages a goal every 218 minutes as a starter this term, compared with one every 86 minutes when coming off the bench.

If Arsenal are going to keep their title hopes alive they need to win at Wolves on Saturday.

Yet Mikel Arteta will need to be at his tactical best if he wants to outsmart Gary O’Neil at Molineux.

The Gunners may meet a Wolves side stuttering towards the end of the season after one win in their last six outings but their home form against the top sides has been impressive.

Of the top five, only Liverpool have won at Molineux this season and even then they needed to come from behind with two late goals.

Manchester City and Tottenham have been beaten while Aston Villa only took a point from their Midlands rivals in October.

Extending it to the top seven, Newcastle drew 2-2 while Manchester United needed Kobbie Mainoo’s injury-time winner to snatch a bonkers 4-3 win two months ago.

O’Neil is tactically meticulous, underlined by his team’s near perfect display against City in September’s 2-1 win, and while Wolves may not be in their best form this term few can say they are easy to beat at Molineux.

There have been exceptions, the 4-1 defeat to Brighton in O’Neil’s first home game and a 2-0 loss to Brentford, but his players adapted to his methods quickly and could still claim another scalp on Saturday.

Wolves have six games of the Premier League season left to play and, with their injury-hit squad's hopes of European qualification having drifted in recent weeks, the focus will start to turn to their upcoming summer transfer business.

Sporting director Matt Hobbs said in March that Wolves are not in a position where they need to sell, but there is an acceptance among the fan base that at least one of their star names will depart to help finance some much-needed summer additions.

Who that player/those players might be remains to be seen, although Pedro Neto, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Joao Gomes have featured regularly in various gossip columns for the past couple of months.

Wolves want to be financially self-sustainable, so what they must do is use any funds on new players wisely - something that hindsight tells us was not the case in 2022 when Bruno Lage was heading into his second season in charge.

Nathan Collins, Matheus Nunes, Goncalo Guedes and Sasa Kalajdzic were signed for a total in excess of £100m. Collins and Nunes struggled to make a meaningful impact and were sold last summer for reported profits, Guedes is out on loan having started only 12 games for the club, and Kalajdzic - himself loaned out in January in search of regular football - is currently recovering from a second serious knee injury in less than 18 months.

Lage was sacked eight games into the following season with Wolves languishing in the bottom three, while technical director Scott Sellars left shortly afterwards.

There have been errors regarding incomings and outgoings since then, but Wolves have also made some astute signings for relative bargain prices; midfield duo Gomes and Mario Lemina being brought in for a combined £25m, for example.

If they are to build on a hugely positive first season under Gary O'Neil, an important summer awaits.

With Wolves performing better than anticipated this season, it is crucial to maintain the nucleus of players and bolster the squad depth.

However, adhering to the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) might necessitate selling players to facilitate growth and development. All this needs to be factored in when we take a look at who Wolves must retain and who could potentially depart.

Firstly, Wolves absolutely must keep Rayan Ait-Nouri, as he is fast, creative, and we have sorely missed his presence when he is unavailable. Initially excluded from the squad by Julen Lopetegui, he has flourished under Gary O’Neil. He is under contract until 2026 with an option to extend and should be retained in the summer.

Matheus Cunha has to stick around. He has been brilliant and is currently the top goalscorer. Lately, Cunha has often played as a number nine but he's better as a number 10. He is really skilful at carrying the ball up the pitch. I think he also adds a lot to the dressing room and his leadership qualities would be sorely missed.

The midfield has also been a strength, and I would not want to see any departures in that area. Wolves will secure Tommy Doyle's services in the summer for a bargain price of £4.3m, but it is equally essential to hold on to Joao Gomes. Joao possesses energy, commitment, and tenacity in midfield, and his impressive performance for Brazil against England at Wembley has attracted envious eyes. Joao is another key player to keep at the club.

I might surprise you with this one but of all the players linked with a move away, I would sell Pedro Neto. Don’t get me wrong Neto is fantastic but his fitness is a concern for me and if he only plays half a season, then he's a luxury for Wolves. It is important to retain the majority of players and selling just one player like Neto could raise sufficient funds to revitalise the squad and prepare for next season. I think it's potentially the least disruptive option for Wolves in the summer.

The last few transfer windows have been exceptionally quiet for Wolves as they have strived to meet PSR rules but hopefully this summer we can see some investment in the team and we can have an even better season in 2024-25.

Dave can be found at Always Wolves, external

It was extremely good to see Matheus Cunha starting again for Wolves on Saturday - and it was even better to see him score twice against Nottingham Forest.

Wolves got over 75 minutes from the Brazil forward at the City Ground and hopefully he will be ever present as we head into the business end of the season.

It had been a slow start to life for at Molineux but over 12 months on and Cunha has become one of the most pivotal members of the Wolves squad and I am really shocked not to see more top clubs linked with him.

Obviously you do not want to lose your best players but every week I'm seeing transfer rumours linking Pedro Neto, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Joao Gomes with moves away but it is always quiet with Cunha.

I am not complaining, of course, because Cunha is fast becoming the most popular player for most Wolves fans and has been a joy to watch this season.

His double in Nottingham moved him on to 11 league goals, and 13 in total. He has 20 goal contributions including assists and it is the first time he has hit 10 or more goals in a top five European league.

Those numbers would have been even higher if he had been fit throughout February and March. It is a brilliant improvement on his two goals in 17 games last season at Wolves.

It is fantastic to see him back and thankfully it has helped improve the mood among Wolves fans.

After the FA Cup quarter-final exit and VAR decisions going against us, the mood and expectation for the remainder of the season had significantly dropped.

With Cunha back and full returns for Hwang Hee-chan and Neto hopefully not far away, Wolves could end the season on a high and push on next campaign.

Dave Azzopardi can be found at Talking Wolves, external

Manchester City have opened talks with Wolves over the possible signing of wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri. (Football Transfers), external

Wolves have also scouted Real Betis' Juan Miranda, although Brentford, Crystal Palace and West Ham are also keen on the 24-year-old Spain left-back. (HITC), external

Want more transfer news? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

We asked for your thoughts on Nottingham Forest's 2-2 draw with Wolves on Saturday.

Here are some of your answers:

Nottingham Forest fans

Jack: Forest played all the best football but conceded a very soft opener then another set piece. Frustrating not to win but encouraged by how good we look on the ball.

Kris: I don’t like to single players out, but it’s impossible not to mention just how poor Yates is. A fan favourite as a home grown player, but not Premier League standard by a long way. It’s time he moved on, wherever we finish the season. On this showing, with more points dropped from a winning position, it’s increasingly looking like the Championship.

Luke: Yet another example of not getting the points we deserve from a game, the story of our season and the reason why we’re 17th. It’s easy to once again say “if we play like that again we’ll be fine” but this is the business end of the season and we need wins.

Wolves fans

Mike: Scrappy game, lit up by the Cunha solo goal. Wolves showed more up front than in recent games. It was good to see Hwang back for 30 minutes, when he and Cunha are back up to speed we should be far more threatening in an attacking sense. Good to see VAR get a decision right!

Jason: Solid performance today. We are missing the attacking drive of Pedro Neto and the other attacking options but overall benefitted from Cunha's return. A decent performance from a talented but thin and injury-hit squad. Well done Wolves.

Andy: Considering our injury list and players not fully fit I think we did well at the City Ground. Not an easy place to go, especially as Forest need the points to avoid relegation. Gary O'Neil should be pleased with this performance considering the circumstances.

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's six Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up on the action on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to Saturday's BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra match commentary in full:

Manchester City v Luton Town

Bournemouth v Manchester United

Image source, Getty Images

Having now gone four league games without victory for the first time in 2023-24, Wolves' season is in danger of petering out.

It took a moment of magic from Matheus Cunha to give Gary O'Neil's side a first-half lead at Nottingham Forest, but Wolves have struggled to keep clean sheets on their travels and Morgan Gibbs-White restored parity with a free header just six minutes later.

Forest's second goal was just as poor from the visitors' perspective, with Matt Doherty playing an inadvertent one-two with Gibbs-White before diverting the ball into goalscorer Danilo's path while trying to dispossess the former Wolves player inside the area.

Cunha's close-range finish earned Wolves a share of the spoils, but O'Neil's team - who were challenging for a place in Europe just last month - have fallen away from the top seven in recent weeks.

With three straight home games coming up in late April, however, Wolves will be confident of returning to winning ways before the end of the month.

Gary O'Neil spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Wolves' draw with Nottingham Forest: "I think a draw is probably a fair outcome. They had more shots and territory, we had more of the ball. Probably a fair result, I am guessing Forest will be disappointed. They had some late pressure without troubling Jose Sa too much.

"We gave them the first goal really, a really poor goal. Even where it goes in, middle of the goal, Sa will be disappointed to have not saved it. Soft header. On the balance of it. Lots of stuff I did like and other stuff we need to improve on, but we know that. So not much else to it.

"We are getting back to where we should be player wise but it is so tricky at the minute to manage the group. You've got Cunha who can play 65 minutes-ish, then Channy who can play half an hour... Nelson was absolutely shattered, feeling his hamstrings tightening up a bit. We've got Traore playing right back for the last minutes. Two kids coming on late on who haven't even had a professional loan yet but are getting minutes.

"In terms of fight and resilience and bravery, the lads showed a lot of that We showed some quality but we need to improve, teams know that we don't have much of a threat in behind at the minute.

"A positive day for us. A patched up group on the road in the Premier League and we take a point with us."

• Morgan Gibbs-White became just the fourth Nottingham Forest player to register double figures for both goals (10) and assists (15) in the Premier League (after Ian Woan, Bryan Roy and Steve Stone).

• Wolverhampton Wanderers are winless in their past four Premier League games (D2 L2) – their longest run across a season since a five-game spell between October and November 2022.

• Wolves’ Matheus Cunha has been directly involved in nine goals across his past seven Premier League starts (six goals, three assists), as many as in his first 30 starts.

• Danilo has been involved in a goal in both of his past two home Premier League appearances for Nottingham Forest, as many as in his past 12.

• Matheus Cunha became just the fourth different player to score 10 or more goals for Wolves in the Premier League (after Raul Jimenez x2, Steven Fletcher x2 and Hee-Chan Hwang).

Matheus Cunha scored twice as Wolves denied Nottingham Forest a valuable victory in their fight for Premier League survival.

Brazilian forward Cunha, making his first start since suffering a hamstring injury in early February, opened the scoring at the City Ground with a magnificent solo strike midway through the first half.

Carrying the ball from inside his own half to the edge of the Forest penalty area, Cunha skipped between Andrew Omobamidele and Ryan Yates before rifling an unstoppable shot past goalkeeper Matz Sels and into the top corner.

Former Wolves playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White drew Forest level just six minutes later, heading home Giovanni Reyna's corner in first-half stoppage time before celebrating in front of the travelling fans.

Nuno Espirito Santo's home side swept ahead in the second half when Danilo powered a low shot beyond Jose Sa from close range, but Cunha bundled home a loose ball from a corner to salvage a point for Gary O'Neil's men.

Wolves remain just outside the top half of the table, while Forest stay perilously close to the relegation zone.

Were you at the match or did you follow it from elsewhere?

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Six matches make up Saturday's Premier League action, and we will bring you every moment.

BBC Radio 5 Live match commentaries:

• Man City v Luton

• Bournemouth v Man Utd

All times BST

Follow BBC Radio 5 Live commentaries and live text updates here

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.

For this weekend's games, he takes on actor and Leyton Orient fan Daniel Mays.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

This is big for Nottingham Forest, who need to bounce back from last week's defeat at Tottenham.

I always think Wolves are well organised, though, even if their results have dropped off a bit with only one win in their past five games.

Wolves boss Gary O'Neil is still fuming about having a late goal ruled out for offside in their defeat by West Ham but I felt it was the right decision.

Daniel's prediction: 2-2

This is going to be tight.

See the full list of predictions here

Wolves boss Gary O'Neil has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League match at Nottingham Forest.

Here are the main headlines:

• Forward Hwang Hee-chan is in the matchday squad for the first time since the end of February following injury, while Rayan Ait-Nouri is also set to be involved.

• O'Neil said the game against Forest will be "incredibly tough" and added: "When I look at the depth they have and the money they've spent, it's a real surprise that they are where they are."

• O'Neil was charged by the Football Association for his behaviour following the controversial defeat by West Ham on Saturday. He said it would "probably be best for him not to comment until the process is complete".

• Asked about the club's frustrations with VAR, O'Neil said: "You can feel it nationally really. Across the whole league there's been a lot of frustration or disappointment around some of the decisions and the way the season has gone with VAR and other bits and pieces."

• He continued: "That's not to say it's all bad. There have been some good calls and things that have definitely helped. But not only at Wolves, I would say there is a desire from everybody for the standard of it to improve and I'm sure that goes for the people in charge of it as well."

• O'Neil said he speaks regularly with PGMOL chief Howard Webb to discuss incidents in Wolves' and other clubs' games, and that Webb is "always open and honest" with his explanations. He added: "I don't need them to agree with me - it's not where we're trying to get it to. It's just being open and honest, and giving me a good understanding of why decisions are given. We've received apologies this year, which I always accept. I understand people make mistakes and it's no problem as long as there's an openness and an honesty to the process."

• Asked about points Wolves have potentially lost because of contentious decisions this season, O'Neil said: "I don't blame anybody else or credit anybody else for our league position apart from us. I'm sure there will be many clubs that claim they could be higher without certain decisions."

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Image source, PA Media

The controversial decision to deny Wolves a late equaliser against West Ham on Saturday was correct, the Key Match Incidents Panel has ruled.

Wolves captain Max Kilman headed home in the ninth minute of stoppage time in the game at Molineux on Saturday, but substitute Tawanda Chirewa was in an offside position.

Manager Gary O'Neil said it was "possibly the worst decision I have ever seen" and has since been charged by the Football Association for his post-match behaviour towards the officials.

It is not the first time Wolves feel hard done by following video assistant referee (VAR) decisions.

From the first game of the season, when they were wrongly denied a penalty when Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana clattered into Sasa Kalajdzic, there have been several controversial calls against them.

They were unhappy with Luton's penalty in the 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road in September for Joao Gomes' handball, when the ball had deflected onto his arm. Premier League refereeing chief Howard Webb admitting the decision split opinion.

Webb also said VAR should have intervened when Newcastle were awarded a penalty in the 2-2 draw at Molineux in October, while the award of Sheffield United's injury-time spot kick in their 2-1 win in November was deemed incorrect.

O'Neil also said, after November's 3-2 defeat at Fulham, that referee Michael Salisbury had admitted VAR should have told him to overturn the hosts' first penalty, although the independent panel felt the VAR calls were correct.

Chants of "boring" are now regular at Molineux during breaks in play for VAR decisions. The natives have been restless for a while and the club's patience is also starting to wear thin.