Wolverhampton Wanderers

Phil Cartwright
BBC Sport journalist

Wolves boss Vitor Pereira has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game at Manchester United (kick-off 14:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• The fitness of Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Matt Doherty will be assessed before the trip to Old Trafford - both players were withdrawn during the win over Tottenham. Hwang Hee-chan has a muscle problem and is also doubtful. Pereira said their injuries are not serious.

• On the mood in training this week: "After the game against Ipswich [earlier in April] I felt the team relaxed a little bit - but just for one day and one training session. We had a conversation and we corrected the feeling. This week, I haven't felt that [perceived relaxation]."

• He added: "The team is committed. They know we have a lot of work to do and the work is not done. We have a lot of points to fight for and we have a team with ambition. I believe we will compete in every game until the end [of the season]."

• On the improvements his players have made since Pereira's arrival since December: "We have more confidence with the ball, we are consistent when we are defending and we know exactly what to do, and we made a step forward with tactical maturity. But we need to keep going to improve."

• On Manchester United's remarkable Europa League victory over Lyon on Thursday: "A massive win and this is the kind of win that brings confidence. I believe we'll face a team more confident. But as I've said since the beginning, it's about us."

Listen to commentary of Manchester United v Wolves on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra from 14:00 on Sunday

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Image source, Getty Images

Following their 2-0 win on 26 December, Wolves are looking to complete their first league double over Manchester United since 1979-80.

United have won all four of their home league games played on Easter Sunday by an aggregate score of 9-1.

If Wolves win this game, they would be level on points with Manchester United in the Premier League table. Before Vitor Pereira's first game in charge on 22 December, they trailed the Red Devils by 13 points.

Guess the current Wolves player from these three clues:

• I represented my country at Euro 2024 and reached the quarter-final stage.

• I made my 150th Premier League appearance for Wolves in January.

• My only Premier League goal to date was scored against Manchester United.

Come back to this page at 17:00 BST for the answer

Mike Taylor
BBC Radio WM reporter

Are we still in the same season as the trudge up to Christmas?

Sunday at Molineux was good old-fashioned family fun. Wolves led all the way. The South Bank worked through its favourite tunes. Jorgen Strand Larsen scored another goal, then stood aside for Matheus Cunha to make his comeback, directing the crowd to applaud Cunha as he entered the field like Jimmy Tarbuck introducing Bruce Forsyth at the Royal Variety Performance. Cunha's goal cued in the show's closing big number, the South Bank's new smash-hit "First the points, then the pints", with Vitor Pereira himself leading the rhythmic clapping. Now that's entertainment. If only the season could go on a bit longer, eh?

Last weekend's results set up the amusing prospect of Wolves overtaking both Tottenham – who generously played their fall-guy parts with some slapstick defending – and Manchester United, where Pereira's travelling show pitches up this Sunday. That would be a concrete achievement from where he took them over in December, and a better look than merely celebrating survival.

It would also be a realistic goal to help maintain their momentum in the closing weeks of the season, and Pereira will want his team to have a hare to chase. In a sense, next season should start now: with survival all but mathematically assured, there is no reason for Wolves to delay their planning towards the squad they would like to have in place next August.

George Lakin made a good observation on this page this week, comparing Pereira to Claudio Ranieri. Emulating his achievements at Leicester might be a stretch, but after the travails of this season, Wolves are better equipped now to move forward than they were just over a year ago – only one year! – after Gary O'Neil had led them unexpectedly into the top half of the table.

After the FA Cup quarter-final – when injuries had exposed the lack of depth in his squad – the energy quickly drained from O'Neil's team and, so it seemed, the manager himself. Yes, the fixtures at the start of this season made things a lot harder, but once the momentum was lost, the situation quickly ran out of control.

Wolves made some decisions under pressure in midwinter that worked out well. That pressure is off now, but the experience of last spring should impress upon the club the need to make positive moves this summer, to ensure the energy Pereira's team have generated is not wasted. Football does not stand still to admire progress. Clubs that stop moving forwards quickly slide.

Listen to full commentary of Man Utd v Wolves at 14:00 BST on Sunday on BBC Radio WM (95.6 FM/DAB/Freeview)

Tune into The West Midlands Football Phone-In from 18:00 on weeknights.

Image source, PA Media

BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty has been answering your Premier League questions during a special Q&A session on Tuesday.

He was asked: You were at Molineux on Sunday. Notwithstanding Spurs gifting goals, what did you make of Wolves and what they might do next season?

Phil: I think Wolves have some very talented players, although I fear they will lose their key striker Matheus Cunha this summer. He has got real star quality, which I suspect will attract bids from elsewhere.

I really like what Vitor Pereira has done. He has achieved real unity with the fans, as proved by the players and staff taking a bow at both ends after the final whistle.

There seems to be a genuine spirit and optimism there.

As always, summer recruitment will be key, but even without Cunha I would not expect Wolves to struggle as they have this season next term.

George Lakin
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Vitor Pereira is a miracle worker.

Tactically he is a genius. From a man-management point of view, he is unshakeable. The whole Matheus Cunha debacle was dealt with consummate ease - after a tumultuous week on social media, the Brazilian ended up sealing the win against Tottenham and beaming with joy while doing it.

Pereira seems able to deal with any challenge the Premier League and public life throws at him.

But just how far can he take Wolves?

In his words: "We continue to rise." How high? Time will tell.

This season, at least, he has openly said: "17th is not acceptable, it's not a success." Understandably so. While this was his sole objective when he arrived, he has set a much higher standard than that, and deserves more. As high as 13th place is still anyone's, and no one is in finer fettle than ourselves right now.

In fact, if the season had started when he walked through the doors, it would be 16 games deep and Wolves would be sat in eighth place on 26 points, three points off a Champions League spot.

Momentum is vital. Building it is hard. Pereira has made that bit look easy. He has unified the club, fans and city. The last time a team that looked as utterly broken and doomed to relegation ended the season like this was a certain Leicester City.

We all know what happened next.

Claudio Ranieri, amidst all his charisma, understood the power of momentum. Pereira carries a similar aura to the Italian. Passion is priceless, and his "man of the people" vibes are helped massively by his post-match drinks with fans in the local pub, like a real-life Ted Lasso.

So, with the wind in his sails and the city behind him - who knows? One thing's for certain though - Pereira's ambition is relentless. And after mistakes made in the past, primarily in not backing managers, it feels like the club is duty-bound to match it. To lose what we have now would be unforgivable, and the absolute final straw for most.

Vitor is special, and he has given us our club back. Much like times gone by under Nuno Espirito Santo, the city of Wolverhampton has a smile on its face once again: charming, warm, and of the Portuguese persuasion. A match made in football heaven.

Find more from George Lakin at Always Wolves, external

Tom Gayle
Match of the Day 2 commentator at Molineux

Image source, Getty Images

How many strikers would describe scoring a Premier League goal as an "off day"? Jorgen Strand Larsen would.

Understandably Matheus Cunha grabbed a lot of the headlines following Wolves' victory over Spurs, not only for his goal from off the bench as he returned from a four-game suspension, but doing so a day on from a deleted social media post where the Brazilian appeared to once again suggest his future lies away from the club.

However, for me, we need to talk more about Strand Larsen.

The Norwegian's tap-in in front of the Sir Jack Hayward Stand was his 12th goal of the season and leaves him on track to become the first Wolves player to score in a fifth consecutive Premier League appearance when they head to Manchester United on Sunday.

Since the days of peak Raul Jimenez, the club have struggled to find an out-and-out striker capable of scoring regularly. There was hope Fabio Silva would become the main man, especially given a then club record fee of £35m was paid to secure the teenage prodigy back in 2020. He looks set to depart Molineux this summer having not been seen in the gold and black for almost 18 months, and with a derisory tally of five goals in 74 appearances.

Alan Shearer's analysis of Strand Larsen's performance during last weekend's victory at Ipswich was as follows: "His hold-up play was excellent, his touch and control were superb." It was an assessment which you could easily copy and paste into Sunday's match report. Erling Haaland was more concise with his appraisal: "Mannnn" followed by two fire emojis when responding to his international team-mate's social media post.

When speaking to Strand Larsen afterwards, rather than indulge in praise regarding his individual contribution, I found him to be admirably self-deprecating. Form of five goals in his past four games he says is down to "my team-mates", and he said it was "nice to be close to such a legend" when I pointed out he was just one shy of Jimenez's club record for the total scored by a Wolves player during a debut Premier League season.

In what was a largely jovial post-match press conference with boss Vitor Pereira, he could not have been more steely when refusing to answer questions about Wolves now being safe from relegation: "If I start to speak about being safe then I am not being ambitious. I did not come to England, to the Premier League, to work just to avoid relegation. I am not this kind of coach."

Given only eight other clubs have players who have currently scored more Premier League goals than Strand Larsen this season, I feel he has already proven himself more than capable of helping Pereira target those desired loftier ambitions in the future.

Tottenham are willing to break their transfer record and pay about £65m to sign 25-year-old Wolves forward Matheus Cunha. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Want more transfer news? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Vitor Pereira took charge of his 16th Premier League game as manager of Wolves on Sunday.

A 4-2 victory over Tottenham was Wanderers' fourth successive win and their eighth in the league under Pereira.

Wolves had taken just nine points from their 16 matches under Gary O'Neil this season before his departure in December. In the 16 games under Pereira, Wolves' points tally is 26.

The other most noticeable improvement has come defensively; Wolves are conceding at a rate of 1.31 goals per game in Premier League games under Pereira, compared with 2.5 goals per game this season under their previous boss.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Wolves and Tottenham.

Here are some of your comments:

Wolves fans

Bill: We're playing like a top-10 team now, but just need to cut out the silly defensive mistakes.

Steve: Great home win and moved up a place. Amazing confidence and all round performance as the team grows with new players and a new lease of life under the manager, whose strategy is working and bringing rewards. Looking forward to next season already, maybe with a couple of new players that have been rumoured. Everyone wants to play for the team and the manager.

Nathan: This team has found the formula. Two-goal lead and then every time Spurs got one back, the response was quick and effective. Rayan Ait-Nouri, Jorgen Strand Larsen, Andre and Joao Gomes were a different class again!

Tottenham fans

Jake: Yet again, a gutless performance from Tottenham, something that seems to be symptomatic for this season. The amount of mistakes and uninspired in-game decisions from management are simply indefensible. I'm afraid to say this but: Ange needs to go, end of.

Paul: Possibly the worst defensive performance I've ever seen from a Spurs team. No fight, too many players are too easily dispossessed and some of the passing is non-league standard. The keeper gives me kittens every time the ball is put into the area and Cristian Romero has been awful for two seasons now. Overall I would say I'm a little disappointed. If we go out of Europe on Thursday, Ange will be gone on Friday.

JS: Some of these players are not worthy of representing our football club, they are seemingly already planning their summer holidays. And for all the Ange critics, the manager is not responsible for individual mistakes for all four of the goals conceded today. Without those four individual errors we may well have won this match!

Highlights and analysis from Sunday's four Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.

Listen back to Sunday's full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Chelsea 2-2 Ipswich Town

• Liverpool 2-1 West Ham United

• Newcastle United 4-1 Manchester United

Image source, Getty Images

Wolves manager Vitor Pereira speaking to Sky Sports after the 4-2 victory against Spurs: "I'm very happy with the team, the personality, the commitment, the organisation, the confidence to play. We faced a strong team but in my opinion we deserved the result.

"I believe as a manger you transmit your personality to the players. I am an ambitious guy, I want more and more. This is the image I ask the players to send to the supporters. We have a team that can reach other targets.

"Joao Gomes played a fantastic game. Each day he gets better and better. But today I cannot say that one player did not have a good game."

On Matheus Cunha deleting a social media post that angered some fans:

"We are together, we are committed, we are a family and the supporters are our family. Cunha is our family. Together we can be stronger and stronger."

Image source, Getty Images

Wolves have won four consecutive Premier League games for the very first time, while it's their longest winning run in the top-flight since January 1972 (4).

Were you at Molineux or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Wolves' performance

Tottenham fans, what did you make of their display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Four matches make up Sunday's Premier League action and BBC Sport will bring you every kick.

• Chelsea v Ipswich

• Liverpool v West Ham

• Wolves v Tottenham

• Newcastle United v Manchester United (16:30)

All kick-off times 14:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has got his big players back from injury but he will have his eye on the Europa League and getting past Eintracht Frankfurt, so will he rest people here?

I have been really impressed with Wolves under Vitor Pereira, especially defensively.

When Gary O'Neil was sacked in December, they had shipped 40 goals in their first 16 league games but, under Pereira, they have only conceded another 19 in 15 matches.

Wolves have won their past three games to move 12 points clear of the relegation zone and I am expecting them to make it four wins in a row here, with another clean sheet.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Read the full predictions and have your say

Image source, Getty Images

There are lots of different perspectives in terms of how you watch a game of football, and I think for the majority of time the people in the stadium get the best atmosphere, but the worst views of how a game has actually gone.

You don't really get the chance to see multiple replays and have discussions about things, because you just get caught up in the moment.

With the incoming semi automated offsides, they did promise it earlier in the season - but I think the caveat was they're only going to do it when it's ready.

It is a positive that they didn't do it when it wasn't ready.

One upside to to the new technology is some of the arguments disappear. Previously you could say 'but it looks like it's this to me' or 'it looks like it's that to me'. When it is presented now, there aren't many people that will then be looking at the animation, going back to the video, and then going down a proper conspiracy rabbit hole.

So, it ends more arguments, not all arguments, but more arguments.

I think people, as a consequence, will be more accepting of it.

But, I still do believe that there's things for people to understand, because it can't be used in every situation. There are certain decisions which can still be a little bit more complex, and there's certain times where human intervention will still need to be brought in.

I wouldn't say it's as clear as, say, goal line technology, but it's a step in the direction to where most people feel more comfortable accepting the outcome and the speed of it as well will be encouraged.

It's not to say that it's going to be instant. If you believe this is going to be perfect, and always extremely fast, ask yourself, why do you think that?

Unless somebody has told you that from PGMOL, then take it with a pinch of salt and you see how it goes.

I think it's something that many people have seen before so hopefully there will be fewer arguments.

But, because it's football, there'll always be something to argue about the end of the day.

Image source, Getty Images

No sides have seen more goals in their Premier League games this season than both Tottenham Hotspur (103 - 58 for, 45 against) and Wolves (102 - 43 for, 59 against).

Only leaders Liverpool (72) have scored more goals than Spurs (58) in the division this term, while only the current bottom three sides have conceded more than Wolves (59).

Wolves boss Vitor Pereira has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game at home against Tottenham (14:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Pereira confirmed leading scorer Matheus Cunha will not go straight back into his starting XI on his return from suspension: "What is fair? It's fair to keep going with the same team. That is my opinion. This is football, this is commitment, leadership. Matheus will come to help us, he understands, I had a conversation with him, but I will play the same team."

• Pedro Lima has twisted his ankle and will be unavailable.

• Has the team shape changed in Cunha's absence? "Yes I think so. Tactically when we are attacking we are doing different movements. I am asking different things than when I started. When you start to put more and more things on the system, the system will show you that we can do a lot of things differently. We are trying to improve our style of play, especially with the ball."

• On staying motivated after all but securing survival: "If you relax it's a big mistake. It's my responsibility to not allow them to relax because the next game will be very hard for us."

• He stressed the importance of keeping the supporters behind them: "We need to feel the energy and make this connection with the supporters. Of course we are not finished yet, but together we are stronger. If you play with your soul they will be proud, if we don't press and show courage they will tell us. I want confidence and fight."

• On the challenge posed by Spurs: "We will face a very good team, a strong team. I watched them yesterday, they are with fire. The coach will for sure do some changes but they are still very strong because they have a very good squad."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news