Team news

Chelsea's Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Enzo Fernandez and Romeo Lavia all missed training on Friday and are doubts.

Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana remain on the sidelines.

Wolves midfielder Mario Lemina is available for selection after apologising to boss Vitor Pereira for asking to be left out of the squad for the midweek defeat at Newcastle.

Forward Matheus Cunha has had flu this week and is a doubt.

Toti Gomes is expected to be back from his hamstring injury next week, while Boubacar Traore has returned to training.

Sasa Kalajdzic and Yerson Mosquera are long-term absentees.

Match facts

Head-to-head

  • Chelsea ended a run of three straight league defeats against Wolves by winning this season's reverse fixture 6-2 at Molineux in August.

  • After a 4-2 victory at Stamford Bridge last season, Wolves are aiming to secure back-to-back league wins at Chelsea for the first time since February 1964.

Chelsea

  • Chelsea are winless in five leagues games (D3, L2), immediately following a run of five straight victories.

  • Just 43% of their points this season have come at home (16 of 37), the lowest proportion in the top flight.

  • They have kept just one clean sheet at home in the league this season.

  • The Blues dropped two points from winning positions in their first 17 league matches under Enzo Maresca, but have lost seven points in their subsequent four games (D2, L2).

  • Cole Palmer (14 goals, six assists) is the first Chelsea player to register 20 or more top-flight goal involvements in consecutive campaigns since Eden Hazard did so in three straight seasons between 2012-13 and 2014-15.

  • Palmer has been involved in five goals in his last two league appearances against Wolves, scoring two and assisting three.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

  • Wolves earned seven points from their opening three matches under Vitor Pereira but have subsequently suffered successive 3-0 league defeats.

  • They could become the first side to lose their opening three top-flight games of a calendar year by three or more goals since Nottingham Forest in 1910.

  • Seven of their Premier League starting XIs this season have not contained an Englishman, only one occasion fewer than the total of the other 19 teams combined.

  • Wolves have gone 22 league matches in London without keeping a clean sheet.

  • Matheus Cunha scored a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge in Wolves' 4-2 win last season.

Related topics