Chelsea vs. Wolves: Preview, Predictions and Lineups

The Blues welcome a side bottom of the table, without a win or manager to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea take on bottom-of-the-table Wolves for the second time in two weeks.
Chelsea take on bottom-of-the-table Wolves for the second time in two weeks. / Visionhaus/Getty Images

Chelsea must shake off their midweek disappointment when they welcome bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers to Stamford Bridge on Saturday night.

The Blues have blown hot and cold as of late, with the very best and worst of Enzo Maresca’s Blues manifesting in recent outings. After outclassing Tottenham Hotspur in N17 last weekend, Chelsea subsequently produced a woeful defensive display and drew 2–2 with Qarabag in Azerbaijan.

That result leaves Chelsea with an uphill battle to qualify automatically for the Champions League round of 16.

Domestically, last week’s victory helped them up to seventh in the league table, with the top half currently tightly packed.

Wolves can only dream of such lofty heights. Managerless and without a Premier League victory this season, their outlook is bleak.

The Vitor Pereira era drew to a close with a 3–0 defeat at Fulham last weekend, and their failed approaches for former boss Gary O’Neil and Middlesbrough manager Rob Edwards mean youth team coaches James Collins and Richard Walker will take charge of the visitors in west London.

Here’s Sports Illustrated’s guide to Saturday’s game.

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What Time Does Chelsea vs. Wolves Kick-Off?

  • Location: London, England
  • Stadium: Stamford Bridge
  • Date: Satruday, Nov. 8
  • Kick-off Time: 3 p.m. BST / 10 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. PT
  • Referee: Andrew Kitchen
  • VAR: Darren England

Chelsea vs. Wolves Head-to-Head Record (Last Five Games)

  • Chelsea: 3 wins
  • Wolves: 2 wins
  • Draws: 0

Current Form (All Competitions)

Chelsea

Wolves

Qarabag 2–2 Chelsea - 05/11/25

Fulham 3–0 Wolves - 01/11/25

Tottenham 0–1 Chelsea - 01/11/25

Wolves 3–4 Chelsea - 29/10/25

Wolves 3–4 Chelsea - 29/10/25

Wolves 2–3 Burnley - 26/10/25

Chelsea 1–2 Sunderland - 25/10/25

Sunderland 2–0 Wolves - 18/10/25

Nottingham Forest 0–3 Chelsea - 22/10/25

Wolves 1–1 Brighton - 05/10/25


How to Watch Chelsea vs. Wolves on TV

Country

TV channel/live stream

United Kingdom

Sky Go UK, NOW, SKY GO Extra, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Ultra HD

United States

fuboTV, UNIVERSO NOW, Peacock, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, Amazon Prime Video, NBC, UNIVERSO

Canada

DAZN Canada, fuboTV Canada, Amazon Prime Video, Fubo Sports Network Canada

Mexico

Caliente TV, Amazon Prime Video, FOX One


Chelsea Team News

Roméo Lavia
Roméo Lavia is injured again. / Heuler Andrey/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

Roméo Lavia pulled up again with an injury on Wednesday night, and the perpetually unavailable midfielder will be out of action this weekend.

There are also doubts over Pedro Neto’s fitness as his former club visits Stamford Bridge. Maresca has said a decision has not yet been made as to whether the winger will play on Saturday.

Cole Palmer is continuing his recovery from a groin injury, while Levi Colwill and Dário Essugo are long-term absentees. Benoît Badiashile is also sidelined.

Wesley Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah should return to Chelsea’s defence, while Enzo Fernández and Moisés Caicedo will come back into the engine room. The latter played most of Wednesday’s game anyway because of Lavia’s injury.


Chelsea Predicted Lineup vs. Wolves

Chelsea
Maresca will make plenty of changes from their midweek disappointment. / FotMo

Chelsea predicted lineup vs. Wolves (4-2-3-1): Sánchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; James, Caicedo; Estêvão, Fernández, Garnacho; Pedro.


Wolves Team News

There are unlikely to be wholesale changes from the interim managers despite Wolves’ woeful start to the season, but they will have to manager without the suspended Emmanuel Agbadou, who was sent off in last week’s defeat.

João Gomes will come in for the Ivorian and potentially partner Marshall Munetsi in midfield.

Matt Doherty and Rodrigo Gomes are believed to be the visitors’ only other two absences, with the pair missing out through injury.

Jørgen Strand Larsen is the man they’ll turn to to lift them out of the mire, while Jhon Arias is an impressive counter-attacking threat who could cause Chelsea problems.


Wolves Predicted Lineup vs. Chelsea

Wolverhampton Wanderers
There are unlikely to be drastic changes from the interim managers. / FotMo

Wolves predicted lineup vs. Chelsea (3-4-2-1): Johnstone; Krejčí, S. Bueno, Toti; Tchatchoua, Munetsi, J. Gomes, H. Bueno; Arias, Bellegarde; Strand Larsen.


Chelsea vs. Wolves Score Prediction

A heavily rotated Chelsea recently won a back-and-forth Carabao Cup tie at Molineux 4–3, with the Blues’ team set to look completely different this weekend.

They’re returning from Azerbaijan, so we perhaps shouldn’t expect a performance akin to last week’s triumph in north London, but it’s hard to imagine a Wolves team currently without a clear direction rocking up to the Bridge and stunning Maresca’s side.

Pereira’s exit may offer the visitors bump, which means they should avoid a battering.

Prediction: Chelsea 3–1 Wolves


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James Cormack
JAMES CORMACK

James Cormack is a Sports Illustrated Soccer freelance writer with an avid interest in tactical and player analysis. As well as supporting Spurs religiously, he follows Italian and German football, taking particular interest in the work of Antonio Conte & Julian Nagelsmann.