Southampton v Wolves predictions: Saints poised to hunt down Wolves

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Southampton v Wolves in the Premier League on Sunday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Premier League, 2pm Sunday

Best bet

Southampton
2pts 17-10 Betfair, Betfred, Hills

Team news

Southampton
Theo Walcott is a doubt while Jack Stephens and Stuart Armstrong remain unavailable.

Wolves
Yerson Mosquera has joined Jonny Otto, Pedro Neto and Hugo Bueno on the sidelines.

Match preview

Southampton have put together a sequence of four successive Premier League draws, including last Saturday's commendable 0-0 stalemate at Manchester City, but a first win of the season is what they are craving and it could arrive at the expense of struggling Wolves.

It is early in the campaign to draw firm conclusions but the pressure is building on Wolves, who have followed up a poor finish to last season, when they lost three in a row, with four defeats in five games.

Bruno Lage's appointment initially went down well with the Wolves crowd, who looked forward to a more attacking, front-foot brand of football.

However, the style change seems to have come at a cost and Lage's side are gaining a reputation for dominating games and failing to win them.

Each of their four losses has been accompanied by a zero in the goals column, including last Saturday's 2-0 reverse at home to Brentford which was probably the most concerning of the lot.

Wolves continued their 100 per cent record in terms of winning the shot count but, of their 11 efforts against the Bees, none was on target.

Brentford keeper David Raya had a fairly quiet afternoon and remained unruffled despite the 64th-minute dismissal of Brentford midfielder Shandon Baptiste.

At the other end, Brentford were a constant threat with the pace of Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo proving too much for Wolves to handle.

Southampton will have taken note and may look to carry out counter-attacking tactics similar to the approach which nearly delivered maximum points at the Etihad last weekend.

Attacking trio Adam Armstrong, Che Adams and Nathan Redmond played their part in a superb performance and Saints might have been rewarded with maximum points had referee Jon Moss decided to stick by what seemed like a fair decision to award the visitors a second-half penalty.

Despite the impressive effort Southampton slipped a place to 15th but if they keep playing to such a high standard it should be a matter of time before they rise to more comfortable surroundings.

Ralph Hasenhuttl's side have picked up a couple of decent points from tough home games against Manchester United (1-1) and West Ham (0-0).

However, they will be focused on nothing les than victory this weekend and can prevail against a Wolves team who may continue to struggle in both boxes.

Key stat

Wolves have lost seven of their last eight league matches.

Inside info

Southampton

Penalty taker James Ward-Prowse
Free-kick wizard James Ward-Prowse
Set-piece aerial threat Jan Bednarek
Card magnet Oriol Romeu

Wolves

Penalty taker Raul Jimenez
Free-kick wizardRuben Neves
Set-piece aerial threatRomain Saiss
Card magnetRuben Neves

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