Wolverhampton Wanderers are bottom of the Premier League heading into Saturday’s game against Brentford, but The Athletic’s Steve Madeley has stressed that the table doesn’t tell the full story.

Accoring to Opta Power Ratings, Wolves have had the toughest start of all 20 teams: Gary O’Neil’s side have already faced Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Liverpool.

And Madeley believes that Wolves can turn things around – starting at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.

It’s not been a good start for Wolves, with the side bottom of the Premier League table after six games. How would you summarise how things have gone so far?

In some ways, the table tells you the story – Wolves have played six games and picked up one point – and that is probably what they deserve, based on the goals they have conceded and the chances they have missed.

In other ways, it does not tell the whole story. They have actually played fairly well in significant periods of most of the games so far, with the second half against Chelsea the only time they really lost their way; it went from 2-2 at half-time to 6-2 at the end.

I would say, if you look at their xGA – I know some people love it and some hate it – it is lower than the actual number of goals conceded and the reason for that is that quite a few of the goals have been pinged in from 20+ yards, which you would not expect to continue happening over the course of the whole season. Others, you can say the goalkeeper should have done better.

Another thing to say is that the fixtures have been brutal. We did a piece recently including the Opta Power Ratings, which said Wolves had the toughest start of all 20 teams and, if you look at their fixtures, every home game has been against either a big six club or Newcastle, who have got aspirations to be up there.

I know it is cliché, but there are no easy games in the Premier League. It has been a brutal start, but that mitigates the one point from the first six.

With the international break coming up, do you think there is reason to suggest things might start to improve after it?

Yes, but not immediately afterwards as the first two games are against Man City at home and Brighton away.

Wolves fans are going to be looking at the run of eight games between the start of November and Christmas, all of which are more winnable than the games they have had so far, on paper, at least.

That run of eight games is going to be pivotal to their season and will determine whether they are climbing back up towards mid-table or in for a relegation battle for the entire season.

How much pressure do you think Gary O’Neil is under right now?

It depends how you define pressure. I think the pressure from outside is beginning to grow and the murmuring from the fans is getting a little bit louder. That is more so the social media fans as opposed to the ones in the ground, who have largely not been turned yet.

Equally, the atmosphere has not been rip-roaring, as you would expect with the run they have been on.

Certainly no one has been openly questioning his position or booing the team inside the ground, but the external pressure is increasing gradually. I do not sense any internal pressure at the moment, though, and I think there is an acceptance within the club of the mitigating factors I mentioned earlier.

My sense is that he is definitely fine until that run of eight games begins, but if the first two or three of those do not go well, inevitably the pressure will start to mount.

Which player should Brentford fans keep an eye on at Gtech Community Stadium?

Matheus Cunha is the obvious one. In terms of his general performances, he has probably not hit the heights we saw last season for the reason that Wolves have been second favourites in pretty much every game they have played.

Cunha has not had a load of the ball or sparked too many attacks, but he still looks the most likely to create something from nothing or get them a goal from somewhere.

Aside from him, I would say Andre, who they signed from Fluminense in the summer.

Andre is not an attacking player, so he does not catch the eye in terms of goals, assists and charging past full-backs, but so far, in a team that has struggled, he has looked like a really top player.

He plays a defensive midfield role, taking the ball in tight areas, moving it about and shielding the back four. Those two Brazilians would be the ones to watch.

What should Brentford expect from Wolves in terms of shape and style?

It has been four at the back all season and they have currently got a shortage of centre-backs, so I would not expect that to change and go to a back three, which they played with for some of last season.

They played a more conventional 4-3-3 against Liverpool last weekend, but in previous games, it has been more of a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-1-1, so I would expect O’Neil to go with one of those.

But whether he sticks with an orthodox midfield three, I am not too sure.

These two teams faced each other four times last season, with 14 goals scored across those games. What’s your score prediction this time around?

There is probably not much science to this, but I feel like Wolves will pick something up at some point and this seems to be the game, so I will go for a 1-1 draw.