Brentford take on Wolverhampton Wanderers in a Premier League clash at Molineux this weekend (3pm kick-off) - and there's no doubt the two sides are well-acquainted.
Saturday's showdown will be the fourth time in eight games that the Bees have faced Gary O'Neil's team, and the Londoners have scores to settle having lost twice and drawn one of those previous three encounters.
Goals have not been in short supply in the trio of games to date: Wolves winning an FA Cup third-round replay 3-2 last month (after an initial 1-1 draw), having dished out a 4-1 league defeat to Thomas Frank's side in late December.
Pre-match Analysis
Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: Clinical Wolves pose considerable attacking threat
Wolves have hit 17 goals in seven games in Hwang Hee-chan’s absence (the striker could return on Saturday after South Korea’s Asian Cup exit) - notably scoring three against Manchester United and four against Chelsea in their last two Premier League outings.
With fit-again winger Pedro Neto hitting top form and hat-trick hero against Chelsea Matheus Cunha adding goals to his game, Wolves pose a considerable attacking threat these days - only Spurs (23 games) and Liverpool (22) netting in more Premier League games this season than Wanderers (20).
Up to 10th in the table, the Midlanders have been revitalised under O'Neil's astute leadership, and their additional goal threat under the former Bournemouth manager is clearly evident in the context of Wolves' goal-scoring numbers dating back to their Premier League return in 2018/19.
In fact, Wolves' current goals-per-game ratio (1.6 goals per game) out-strips their conversion rate in any of the past five Premier League campaigns - and is almost double last season's average return of 0.82 strikes per game.
One very noticeable area in which Wolves have improved this season relates to their shooting accuracy. Last season, the Midlands club hit the target with just 29.1 per cent of their attempts on goal and even across their past five top-flight campaigns, their SOT percentage stands at 31.2 per cent.
This season under O'Neil, however, that figure has leapt up to 36 per cent - only Spurs (37 per cent), Brighton and Man City (both 40 per cent) hitting the target with a higher percentage of their shots to this point.
Brentford have rightly been heralded for their efficiency from set-pieces over recent seasons, but Wolves are much improved in this respect this season.
Last term, only Manchester United (5) scored fewer goals from free-kicks, corners and throw-ins than Wolves (6), but the Midlanders have already scored nine from set-pieces this season - with only Arsenal (9) scoring more Premier League goals from these situations at home than Wolves (7).
Wolves may pose less of a threat to the Bees from outside the box, however.
Currently, Wanderers are the only team yet to score a Premier League goal from beyond the 18-yard line - and Brentford keeper Mark Flekken will feel confident of dealing with any strikes from distance having successfully dealt with a whopping 13 of them against Man City last Monday.
Scout Report
O’Neil and Wolves surpassing pre-season expectations
Wolves played out another season of relative mediocrity in 2022/23, finishing 13th after scoring only 31 goals in the Premier League - their lowest tally since the 1983/84 First Division campaign (27).
Until just after last Christmas, they were prime relegation candidates after picking up 13 points from their 18 games to the turn of the year. They were second bottom by this point - and had already sacked Bruno Lage in October as a consequence of a miserable first few months.
The Portuguese was replaced by former Porto, Real Madrid and Spain boss Julen Lopetegui, who had first been linked with the job at Molineux six years earlier.
There was still a lack of consistency after domestic football restarted, but the Spaniard ultimately delivered the results to secure a place safe in the middle of the pack, leading to a sixth straight season back in the Premier League.
“I don’t want to forget the second part of the season,” said Lopetegui after the season’s conclusion. “It was fantastic to be out of the relegation zone three matches before the end.
“Maybe it has been a little miracle, but now we have to learn for the future. Maybe one miracle is possible, but two? No. That’s why you have to improve and do your homework.”
A hectic summer followed. To comply with financial fair play regulations, Wolves had to sell their best assets this summer, including Rúben Neves to Al Hilal and, of course, Nathan Collins to Brentford. Matheus Cunha and Boubacar Traoré’s loan moves have become permanent, but the club were otherwise greatly restricted.
Then, six days before the curtain-raiser against Manchester United at Old Trafford, Lopetegui departed after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.
The search for a new boss lasted only a day, with Gary O’Neil installed two months after leaving Bournemouth but, as Wolves writer Liam Keen told us last month, on paper, this was not seen as an upgrade.
Yet O’Neil has won most of his doubters over with the way things have panned out so far.
Results-wise, they struggled at the start, with four defeats in the first five leaving them in the familiar surroundings of the relegation zone.
But things have picked up greatly since September, with the 29 points taken from the last 18 games resulting in a comfortable mid-table spot and a top-half finish not out of the question.
Wolves have already scored 37 goals in the Premier League, surpassing last season’s total of 31.
That suggests an element of entertainment has returned to Molineux after two pretty conservative campaigns.
In the Dugout
Gary O’Neil
Gary O’Neil is a familiar face for the majority of English football fans, having played in either the Premier League or the Championship for the entirety of his 19-year career.
The former England Under-21 international played more than 500 games for the likes of Portsmouth, West Ham United and Norwich City, and won promotion from the second tier a remarkable four times.
He only retired from playing the game four years ago, having finished at Bolton Wanderers in May 2019 (after winning their Player of the Year award), and then been unable to find a club to prolong his career with after an Achilles injury.
O’Neil’s coaching career began in August 2020, when he worked as the assistant to Liverpool Under-23 boss Barry Lewtas and, six months later, he was drafted in as first-team coach at Bournemouth, after Jonathan Woodgate’s appointment.
Woodgate departed the Vitality Stadium that summer, but O’Neil stayed on to work under former West Ham team-mate Scott Parker and, when Parker left shortly after promotion back to the Premier League at the start of the 2022/23 campaign, he was appointed as head coach last November after three months as caretaker.
The 40-year-old kept the Cherries in the top flight for another season, securing a 15th-place finish, five points above the relegation zone, but was sacked in June in favour of Andoni Iraola.
O’Neil was appointed as Wolves boss on 9 August.
The Gameplan
With The Athletic’s Steve Madeley
Steve Madeley, Wolves reporter for The Athletic, explains how Gary O’Neil is likely to set up his side on Saturday:
“Generally, they do not change too much. He plays kind of a hybrid system that switches between a 5-2-3 and more of a 4-4-2, so they tend to defend with a back four and then, when they have the ball, Nélson Semedo on the right pushes on to become a wing-back and they have three at the back.
“Regardless of personnel, that does not particularly change. The front three are also quite fluid and it often becomes more like a front two with Neto as a right winger. It is a system they have been using in every game since they beat Manchester City at home.”
Read the full interview with Steve Madeley here
Team News
Ghoddos in contention after Iran's Asian Cup exit
Saman Ghoddos could feature for Brentford against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
The 30-year-old returned to the Robert Rowan Performance Centre on Thursday morning following Iran’s 3-2 Asian Cup semi-final defeat to Qatar the day before.
Ghoddos has made 14 Premier League appearances this season, featuring in midfield and as part of the Bees’ backline.
“With Saman, it’s good and bad,” said Bees boss Thomas Frank.
“We’re happy that he’s back and available for us but of course we wanted him to get to the final and win.
“There’s time difference and travel, but he should be available for Saturday.”
Frank Onyeka and Yoane Wissa remain on international duty and are therefore unavailable for Saturday’s trip to Molineux.
Match Officials
Hooper the man in the middle at Molineux
Referee: Simon Hooper
Assistants: Adrian Holmes and Simon Long
Fourth official: Robert Jones
Video assistant referee: Peter Bankes
Additional video assistant referee: Matthew Wilkes
Experienced Wiltshire referee Simon Hooper, who tried to make it as a professional footballer in his youth, has taken charge of 27 Brentford games as both he and the Bees have worked their way up the divisions.
Hooper's first Brentford game came in October 2008 at Aldershot in League Two before seven Sky Bet League One assignments from 2009 to 2013 followed.
In the Sky Bet Championship, he was the man in charge for the Bees’ unforgettable 4-1 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage in April 2015 and also refereed the 1-0 win at home to Queens Park Rangers in October that same year.
Brentford have lost just twice in Hooper’s last 11 games in charge, seven of which have come since promotion to the Premier League.
Last Meeting
Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 Brentford 2 AET (FA Cup third-round replay, 16 January 2024)
Brentford exited the Emirates FA Cup at the third-round stage with a 3-2 extra-time defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Nathan Collins put the Bees ahead against his former club in the first half, before Nélson Semedo levelled before half-time.
Maupay put the visitors ahead again, despite an initial offside call from the assistant referee, but substitute Nathan Fraser took the game to extra-time with a low drive beyond Thomas Strakosha.
A 110th-minute penalty from Matheus Cunha won it for Wolves, who will face local rivals West Bromwich Albion in the fourth round.