Wolverhampton Wanderers travel to Watford tomorrow for their second Premier League away trip of the season. They do so hoping to get their first points of the season on the board.
Watford, on the other hand have been a bit of a mixed bag. An impressive 3-2 victory over Aston Villa got their season off to the best possible start. But two losses from their following games against Brighton and Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur have seen them housed firmly in the middle of the table.
The last time the two sides faced-off was in the FA Cup, as Wolves were left heartbroken by a Gerard Deulofeu winner in extra-time. Watford went on to lose the FA Cup final to Manchester City.
Wolverhampton Wanderers:
Manager Bruno Lage still has a small squad to choose from. However, the international break has given enough time for Yerson Mosquera and Wily Boly to recover from hamstring injuries. Daniel Podence also has two further weeks training under his belt, while new signing Hwang Hee-Chan is in contention for his first start.
There has been controversy between FIFA and a number of Premier League clubs regarding their star players who were held back from international duty. This left a cloud hanging over Raul Jimenez's involvement in the fixture. But it is understood that the Mexican striker has been cleared and will be involved in the match at Vicarage Road.
Wolves' lack of transfer activity means that Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho are likely to start together in a midfield two. Before the season started, it was thought that a central midfielder was a priority signing, but for whatever reason, that hasn't come to fruition. Moutinho and, particularly, Neves have started the season in good form, so there is a feeling that they can at least carry the Wolves midfield until the January transfer window.
Adama Traore and Francisco Trincão should keep their places either side of Jimenez. Wolves have looked very impressive going forward, without scoring a goal yet. Traore is reportedly in talks over a new, improved contract at Molineux, following a season of speculation linking him with a reunion with Nuno Espirito Santo at Spurs.
Lage and his team will be hoping that a trip to one of the newly-promoted sides will give them a great chance of breaking that win-less, goal-less run and three points here would give them a foothold to begin climbing up the league table.
Wolves' XI: Sa, Saiss, Coady, Kilman, Marçal, Semedo, Neves, Moutinho, Traore, Trincão, Jimenez
Watford FC:
Watford will be without goalkeeper Ben Foster for the match with Wolves, as he recovers from the hamstring injury which saw him miss the previous match with Spurs.
Attacker Joao Pedro could be in line to make his first start of the season, following his return to full training during the international break. The striker scored nine goals for Watford last season and boss XX will be hoping that the Brazilian can lead the line following Troy Deeney's release, and subsequent move to Birmingham City last week.
New signing Ozan Tufan could be in line to make his debut, following a season-long loan move from Turkish side Fenerbahçe S.K.
Watford XI: Bachmann, Masina, Sierralta, Ekong, Kiko, Tufan, Sissoko, Kucka, Dennis, Sarr, King