After suffering a tame 2-0 defeat to title-chasing Arsenal on Saturday, Wolves are now winless in six matches, having previously won four from five to improve their prospects of finishing inside the Premier League’s top 10.
Sitting 11th in the table with a seven-point deficit to seventh-placed Manchester United, Gary O’Neil’s side are therefore all but out of the reckoning for European qualification – though that would hardly have been on the agenda at the start of this season.
It has been eight games since they last kept a clean sheet, and an injury-affected squad have lost each of their last three home fixtures – Wolves last lost four in a row at Molineux back in 2017.
The Midlands club have relied heavily on Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha for goals this season, so with both being hampered by fitness problems, momentum has stalled somewhat.
Now, O’Neil meets his former club, and having been shown the door by Bournemouth last summer, he will be keen to prove a point to the board that dispensed with his services; that decision ultimately worked out well for both parties, though, as the two teams have long since left the relegation battle behind.
In fact, Wolves are now aiming to do their fourth Premier League double of the season – they have already beaten Chelsea, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur twice this term – having won 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium in October’s reverse fixture.
As Andoni Iraola’s appointment has proved a success on the South Coast, there will be few regrets about saying goodbye to O’Neil among Bournemouth’s fanbase – their team has been totally transformed over recent months.
On Sunday, the Cherries travelled to Birmingham seeking an 11th league win since mid-November, and Dominic Solanke’s spot-kick initially put them on course to topple Champions League-chasing Aston Villa; however, having conceded an equaliser in first-half stoppage time, they then shipped two more goals after the break.
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That continues a worrying trend for Iraola to mull over, as his side have now lost five Premier League matches after opening the scoring this season – only Brentford have done so more often – and they have effectively dropped 27 points from winning positions all told.
Nonetheless, Bournemouth have already cemented their place in mid-table and remain well clear of the drop zone; instead, they are still looking up at the top half of the table.
Trailing 10th-placed Brighton and Hove Albion by two points, albeit having played one game more, the Cherries can still secure just the second top-10 placing in their brief Premier League history – and that remains a possibility next month
