Preview: Wolverhampton Wanderers - Stoke City

Posted Friday, August 13, 2010 by Goal.com

* Kick-off: Saturday 14 August, 15:00 BST
* Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, England

Chance for new signings to prove their worth

Wolverhampton Wanderers host Stoke City on the opening day of the Premier League season and will no doubt have a number of new players on show.

Mick McCarthy brought in five new players early on in the transfer window and his side are the second highest spenders in the division so far this summer. Steven Fletcher, Steven Hunt, Steven Mouyokolo, Jelle van Damme and Adlene Guedioura have all joined the club, while Geoffrey Mujangi Bia has returned to Molineux on loan again.

The former Ireland boss has confirmed that there are no more funds to spent after spending almost £20 million since the end of last season. Chelsea’s Michael Mancienne, who enjoyed a season-long loan deal at Wolves last season, will not be rejoining the club this season unless another loan move can be agreed.

Wolves finished 15th in their first season back in the top flight last season and McCarthy has already admitted that he would be quite happy with another 15th-placed finish this year. Despite strengthening this transfer window, the club are still tipped as one of the favourites to go down.

McCarthy began with a 4-4-2 formation at the beginning of last season but quickly changed to a 4-5-1 system after his side continued to be undone. The arrival of Fletcher for a fee believed to be around £7 million may make the former Sunderland manager change his plans if he opts to partner him with the ever-impressive Kevin Doyle.

Stoke have had a fairly quiet transfer window so far but splashed out on the club’s record signing earlier this week. Kenwyne Jones joined from Sunderland for £8m to become the club’s first major signing of the summer and he will undoubtedly have a huge part to play in their season.

Youngster Florent Cuvelier has also moved to the Britannia Stadium from Portsmouth but he is unlikely to feature much this year, while Amdy Faye, Andy Griffin, Steve Simonsen and young midfielder Nathaniel Wedderburn have all departed the club.

Boss Tony Pulis guided his side to 12th in their first season in the Premier League two years ago and bettered that with an 11th-placed finish last term. His aim every season is to emulate his side’s point tally from the previous year, so he will be content if they can reach 48 points in their third successive season in the top flight.

A number of reported disputes slightly hampered the Potters’ season last year. Dave Kitson stormed down the tunnel after being substituted and didn’t feature for the rest of the season, Glenn Whelan allegedly hit out at Abdoulaye Faye for not preparing correctly before a game and Rangers bound James Beattie was said to have had a bust-up with Pulis after he cancelled plans for a Christmas party.

TEAM NEWS

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Kevin Doyle said earlier in the week that he would have to take some part in the Republic of Ireland’s match against Argentine to play against Stoke. He didn’t recover from a calf strain in time so could miss his side’s first game of the season.

David Edwards missed Wales’ win over Luxembourg in midweek with a groin injury that could also rule him out of contention, so Adlene Guedioura could deputise.

New signing Stephen Hunt is out until October with a foot injury, which means Matt Jarvis is likely to keep his place from last season on the left wing, while Ronald Zubar could miss out with an ankle injury.

Possible starting line-up: Hahnemann; Mouyokolo, Berra, Craddock, Van Damme; Henry; Foley, Guedioura, Jones, Jarvis; Fletcher.

Stoke City

James Beattie looks set to join Rangers in the next few days, so he is unlikely to take any part, which means Kenwyne Jones could partner Ricardo Fuller up front.

Glenn Whelan has been struggling with a calf problem over the last few weeks and could miss out, while Abdoulaye Faye is out with a hamstring injury.

Possible starting line-up: Sorensen; Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Higginbotham; Tuncay, Whitehead, Delap, Etherington; Jones, Fuller.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Burnley’s main man last season was Steven Fletcher. The Scotland international impressed in his first season in the Premier League after moving from Hibernian last summer. He scored 12 goals for the Clarets, which prompted Wolves to pay £7m for his services, and providing he can recreate the form he showed at Turf Moor last year, he will be a success at his new club.

Stoke City

Stoke smashed their record transfer fee to sign Kenwyne Jones this week. The former Sunderland man has proved over his time at the Stadium of Light that he can destroy defences on his day - even if those days are few and far between. Steve Bruce has admitted the Trinidad & Tobago star can be frustrating to watch due to his inconsistency, but the forward will be keen to make an impact on his debut.

PREDICTION

Wolves were hard to break down last season due to the amount of players they get behind the ball, while Stoke, who were also difficult to beat, didn’t have the best of away records. Both teams will probably have their new strikers on show at the weekend, but I can’t separate these two.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Stoke City