Wolves will escape the drop zone at Stoke
It wasn't long ago that we were almost certain that Wolves would be staying up, however Kevin Doyle's injury suffered while on Republic of Ireland duty has - contrary to our expectations - scuppered their survival bid significantly.
Since he hobbled out of his country's 2-1 victory over Macedonia, Wolves have suffered successive heavy defeats to Newcastle and Everton and then followed those with a rather crushing draw at home to Fulham in a match that they led for almost an hour.
Those setbacks keep Wolves a point off of safety and second last in the standings and it is therefore essential that they make the most of this evening's game in hand against FA Cup finalists Stoke, but the early indication is that their upcoming Wembley trip won't be hindering their league form.
The Potters used their emphatic 5-0 triumph over Bolton in the capital as a springboard for ending a run of five straight away losses at Aston Villa on Saturday and their push for a top-half finish will now continue at the Britannia, where they remain unbeaten in 2011.
The statistics aren't too favourable for Mick McCarthy's men heading to the Potteries as they have failed to take a point from any of their trips to bottom-eight rivals to date this season and have won just twice on the road, against Liverpool and Aston Villa.
The Black Country strugglers can take heart though from the fact that Stoke are yet to conquer any of the bottom four in league action despite beating Wolves and West Ham in the FA Cup, while Tony Pulis' Potters haven't got the better of Wolves in any of their three Premier League collisions to date.
Wagers worth considering for tonight's encounter are therefore the draw at [3.65] and both teams to score at [1.97], as Stoke have netted in every home tie in 2011 and Wolves in each of the last three on their travels.
Fancy a correct score punt? 1-1 can be backed at the tasty price of [7.6]...
Published: 26 Apr 2011
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