Wolves travel to Watford on New Year’s Day following back-to-back games against arguably the two best sides in the Premier League.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side shocked Pep Guardiola when recording a stunning 3-2 win over reigning champions Manchester City on the 27th December, having been 2-0 down to the Citizens.
Just two days later, Wolves faced European champions Liverpool at Anfield where they put in yet another good performance, although came away with nothing after Sadio Mane’s goal – Pedro Neto saw his equaliser ruled out by VAR.
You might think Wolves would be facing weaker opposition in 19th placed Watford, although Nigel Pearson’s side will be coming into this one off the back of a three-game unbeaten run in which they’ve beaten Manchester United and Aston Villa.
Here’s the XI that Nuno should play against the Hornets…
As you can see, we think Nuno should make three changes from the side which fell to a 1-0 defeat at Anfield.
That starts by replacing Ryan Bennett with Roman Saiss, as the not-so-pacey centre-back could well struggle against the nippy Ismaila Sarr and Gerard Deulofeu.
Elsewhere, we think that Nuno should bring Adama Traore back into the starting XI, after his busy 32-minute cameo against Jurgen Klopp’s side that saw him record six dribbles, one shot and two tackles – his raw pace and strength would presumably trouble the 5 foot 8 Kiko Femenia, who started at left-back for Watford last time out and is by no means a physical match for the Spaniard.
Further up the pitch, Nuno would be wise to bring Raul Jimenez back into the fold, who has eight goals and six assists in the Premier League this term – the Mexico international would replace Diogo Jota, who was poor at Anfield, having had just one shot and four unsuccessful touches before being substituted.
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In our XI, there also remains a place for the impressive Max Kilman.
The 22-year-old delivered an excellent display against the Reds on just his second Premier League start of the season, receiving praise from these Wolves fans on Twitter for his performance.
In other news, these Wolves fans are all thinking the same thing about Patrick Cutrone after Nuno’s decision…