Wolverhampton Wanders host La Liga strugglers Espanyol on Thursday for the first leg of their Round of 32 tie in the Europa League.
Wolves are continuing to exceed all expectations in the Premier League this term. Nuno Espirito Santos’ side remain in the hunt for a top-four finish, and his talented squad is now more than capable of competing in Europe.
Santo’s men have only lost one of their previous five league games and currently sit eighth in the table. However, the congested nature of the Premier League standings means they are only five points behind fourth-place Chelsea.
Following a draw with Newcastle, Wolves came from behind to secure a stunning comeback win against Southampton. Wolves then lost to Liverpool, but back-to-back draws with Manchester United and Leicester City have prevented them from sliding down the table.
While Wolves are enjoying another promising campaign, it’s safe to say that no other team left in the Europa League is struggling as much as Espanyol this season.
Everything seemed to be going to plan when the Spanish club made it through the group stage with one defeat from six games. But since then, Espanyol have been in free fall.
Four wins in 24 league outings have left Espanyol rock bottom of La Liga. A couple of promising results recently will have lifted the team a little, but the Spaniards are in serious danger of dropping into the second tier if they don’t get their act together soon.
As well as leaking far too many goals at the back, Espanyol have also struggled massively in attack this term. No Espanyol player has reached double figures for the season yet, and this is a cause for concern.
The Spanish side’s main aim is to avoid relegation this term, so manager Aberlardo Fernandez is likely to field a weakened team on Thursday to keep key players fresh for a vital clash with Valladolid at the weekend.
On the other hand, Wolves striker Raul Jimenez has been involved in 12 goals in his last 11 games in European competition. The Mexican has scored nine and assisted three during that time and is likely to cause Espanyol some serious problems.
Ruben Vinagre is the English club’s only injury doubt for this tie, so Nuno Espirito Santo is set to field a full strength starting eleven for the first leg.
Espanyol have been poor at both ends of the pitch lately, while Wolves are extremely well-organised in every department.
Forebet predicts that Wolves will claim a comfortable first-leg victory while keeping a clean sheet.