Fulham-Wolverhampton Preview

Bruno Lage is under no illusions as to the threat posed by Wolves' next Premier League opponents Fulham, but is excited about the potential impact of new signing Goncalo Guedes.

Wolves began the Premier League season with a frustrating 2-1 defeat at Leeds United last time out, but have since been boosted by the acquisition of dynamic Valencia attacker Guedes for £27.5 million.

As Wolves prepare to host Marco Silva's side at Molineux on Saturday, Lage is under no illusions as to the difficulty of the task ahead, but hopes Guedes will contribute.

"All the teams are strong. We can see by the results, we can see what happened week by week and we can see by that game, and what Fulham did last season, how strong they are," Lage said.

"I know a little bit of Marco's work, what he did in Portugal and what he did here in England, it's going to be one more time, every week, it's a tough opponent."

Lage also discussed his excitement over Guedes' addition.

"I'm so happy to have him here because he was one of the first names I said last year I wanted to come, and now we've created that chance to come."

The visitors impressed during a 2-2 opening-day draw with title contenders Liverpool last week, but have not won on any of their last 10 top-flight visits to Wolves.

And Silva is wary of the hosts' attacking quality.

"Regarding Wolves and how they can be really tough for us, I don't have doubts about it," he said. "Top quality individual players, in their attack line they have so much quality.

"The situation this week is a good example – another player that they have signed. There is a lot of quality and pace in the attack line, and of course, experience."

Wolves – Goncalo Guedes

With Wolves' attacking options diminished by an injury to Raul Jimenez, Guedes could be thrown in from the start. He led Valencia's charts for goals (13), assists (six) and dribbles completed (72) in all competitions last season, and will likely test the visitors' backline.

Fulham - Aleksandar Mitrovic

Mitrovic scored twice in Fulham's 2-2 draw with Liverpool last week, only one fewer than he scored in 27 appearances in his last season at this level in 2020-21. He is aiming to become the first Fulham player to score in the opening two matches of a Premier League season since Damien Duff in 2012-13.

- Wolves have won nine of their last 12 league games against Fulham (D2 L1), winning their last three in a row all by a 1-0 scoreline, all in the Premier League between May 2019 and April 2021.

- Wolverhampton Wanderers have lost their first home league match in the last two seasons, losing to Manchester City and Tottenham. They last did so in three consecutive seasons between 1985-86 and 1987-88, when they lost to Newport County, Cambridge United and Halifax Town.

- Fulham have won their first away game in just two of their previous 27 top-flight campaigns (D6 L19), winning 1-0 against both Portsmouth in 2009-10 and Sunderland in 2013-14.

- Wolves (Bruno Lage) against Fulham (Marco Silva) will be the 15th different Premier League match taking place between two Portuguese managers. Silva has been involved in seven of the previous 14 (W1 D2 L4), with his only victory coming in his last such match (3-2 against Nuno Espirito Santo's Wolves when in charge of Everton).

- Fulham are winless in their last 11 Premier League games, the longest ongoing run of any side currently in the division (D3 L8). Only twice have the Cottagers had longer runs without a win in the competition – 12 games between December 2020-February 2021, and 12 games between November 2007-January 2008.

Updated August 12, 2022