Saturday in the Premier League sees a crucial clash as two of the bottom three go head-to-head, with Wolverhampton Wanderers taking on Ipswich Town at Molineux.
Wolves are undefeated in seven league meetings with the Tractor Boys, beaten during only one of their 16 encounters in the Black County since 1991, but could really do with a victory in this one, considering both sides kick off four points from safety.
Following Monday night's 2-1 defeat at West Ham, the Old Gold have won only three of their last 25 Premier League matches, dating back to early-March, pressure is really starting to mount on Gary O'Neil, desperately requiring a victory either here or at Leicester next Sunday, or potentially from both, if he's to remain in charge this Christmas.
Wolverhampton-Wanderers
So, ahead of this huge relegation six-pointer, we assess the biggest selection dilemma O'Neil is facing.
João Gomes' suspension
Having collected his fifth yellow card of the campaign at the London Stadium on Monday, João Gomes will sit out Saturday's crucial clash with Ipswich suspended.
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He had been carefully treading this tightrope for six matches beforehand, but was cautioned by referee John Brooks shortly after the hour mark during the defeat at West Ham.
This is a big blow considering Gomes has racked up 1,273 minutes in the Premier League this season, the second-most of any Wolves player, a mere ten minutes fewer than Rayan Aït-Nouri, starting all 15 fixtures and scoring two goals, finding the net against both Crystal Palace and Fulham.
So, could Wolves' forgotten man fill Gomes' void this weekend?
The perfect Wolves replacement for Gomes
When Hwang Hee-chan arrived from RB Leipzig in 2021, initially on loan with a £14m option to make the deal permanent, which was taken up, he did so to much excitement.
Martinelli-Hwang-Wolves-Arsenal
Nubaid Haroon described him as "exciting" and, given that the South Korean international had scored 45 times for RB Salzburg, 11 of these goals coming in UEFA competitions, it was easy to understand why.
The highlight of Hwang's time in the Black County to date remains the winner he scored against Manchester City last season, coming days after Pep Guardiola, rather patronisingly and dismissively, named Wolves' front three as "Neto, Cunha and the Korean Guy".
Overall,the 28-year-old has scored 22 goals for Wolverhampton Wanderers to date, yet to get off the mark this season, following by some considerable margin his best campaign in an Old Gold shirt last time round.
Hwang Hee-chan Premier League career with Wolvs by season
Statistic
Appearances
Minutes
Goals
Goals per 90
Assists
Expected goals
Shots
Shot-creating actions
Goal-creating actions
Statistics courtesy of FBref.com
As outlined in the table above, 2023/24 was by far Hwang's most productive campaign at Wolves, ending the season as their joint-top scorer in the Premier League, alongside Cunha.
hwang-hee-chan-wolves-premier-league
However, this season, he's yet to score, register an assist or even take a shot in just 300 minutes on the field.
Since suffering an ankle ligament injury during Korea Republic's World Cup qualifying victory over Jordan in Amman back in October, Hwang has made just three cameo appearances off the bench, the longest of which was a 33-minute appearance at Goodison earlier this month, remaining amongst the substitutes on Monday night, despite the urgent need for an equaliser.
This weekend though, in Gomes' absence, now is surely the time for O'Neil to unleash Hwang, starting him alongside the aforementioned Cunha, as well as Jørgen Strand Larsen, both of whom have been impressive this season, when Ipswich visit on Saturday.
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