A baptism of fire for Vitor Pereira's successor - or successors - awaits on Saturday night, when Wolverhampton Wanderers head to Stamford Bridge for a Premier League date with Chelsea.
The basement boys are contesting their first match since Pereira's dismissal, while the Blues are still recuperating from a near-3,000-mile trip to Azerbaijan, which was not as fruitful as expected.
Match preview
Chelsea and Qarabag may be chalk and cheese when it comes to European pedigree, but the Azerbaijani upstarts were briefly on course for a momentous Champions League win over the 2012 and 2021 victors on Wednesday night, before Alejandro Garnacho saved the day.
The Argentine attacker levelled after Leandro Andrade and Marko Jankovic had cancelled out an Estevao Willian opener, but there ought to have been few smiles in the Chelsea dressing room at full time, as Enzo Maresca's men fluffed a golden chance to edge closer to the coveted last-16 spots thanks to that 2-2 draw.
Also nothing if not inconsistent in the Premier League, the hosts' record from their last six top-flight games reads a mediocre three wins and three losses, although they could and probably should have defeated Tottenham Hotspur by more than a1-0 scorelinein North London last weekend.
Nevertheless, Joao Pedro's strike was enough to take down the shot-shy Spurs, against whom Chelsea registered their third victory from four first-tier matches, good enough for seventh in the Premier League table thanks to their superior goal difference over Manchester United.
Enzo Maresca's men may not be living up to the title dark horses label that some bestowed them with at the start of the season, but the hosts can rarely be found trailing - they have been losing for just 14.4% of the time in the 2025-26 Premier League, the second-best figure behind Crystal Palace's 14.2%.
Vitor Pereira pictured in September 2025
On the other hand of the losing coin, Wolves have been chasing the game for a league-high 59.1% of their matches this season, one of many damning statistics that inevitably cost Pereira his job last weekend.
The 57-year-old was dismissed from his position after overseeing a demoralising 3-0 loss to Fulham, Wolves' fourth defeat in a row in all competitions and third on the spin in the Premier League, where they still await their first success of the season.
Already eight points adrift of safety and guaranteed to spend the international break in 20th position, the Old Gold are yet to appoint a permanent successor to Pereira, although Middlesbrough boss Rob Edwards is now thought to be the favourite over ex-manager Gary O'Neil.
For the time being, Under-21s coach James Collins and Under-18s boss Richard Walker are taking charge of preparations for Saturday's game, in which Wolves will somehow attempt to snap a 14-game winless run in the Premier League, where they have not prevailed since April.
The Old Gold came close to a surprise EFL Cup success over Chelsea as recently as October 29, but Maresca's men ultimately ran out 4-3 winners in a traditionally chaotic contest between these two sides, who have shared a staggering 25 goals across their last four head-to-heads.
Chelsea Premier League form:
L
L
W
W
L
W
Chelsea form (all competitions):
W
W
L
W
W
D
Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:
L
D
D
L
L
L
Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions):
D
D
L
L
L
L
Team News
Chelsea's Pedro Neto pictured on November 1, 2025
Maresca's game plan against Qarabag was ripped up after just eight minutes, as injury-plagued midfielder Romeo Lavia had to be withdrawn due to a new thigh problem, one that will rule him out for an unspecified amount of time.
Lavia joins Cole Palmer (groin), Levi Colwill (ACL), Dario Essugo (thigh), Benoit Badiashile (muscle) and the suspended Mykhaylo Mudryk on the sidelines, but in brighter news, ex-Wolves winger Pedro Neto should recover from a minor knock to line up against his old club.
Speaking of attacking returnees, Liam Delap has served his domestic suspension and will come into contention for a start against the team he was sent off against in the EFL Cup - the striker replaced Tyrique George at half time in the Qarabag draw.
As for the visitors, whoever is in charge of selecting the Wolves team this weekend will have to manage without defender Emmanuel Agbadou, who is banned on account of his straight red card in the first half of the Fulham loss.
Agbadou is expected to be one of four Wolves absentees for Saturday's game, joining Matt Doherty (knee), Leon Chiwome (knee) and Rodrigo Gomes (groin) in the treatment room, and Ladislav Krejci should revert to a defensive role to cover for his suspended teammate.
Jhon Arias and Ki-Jana Hoever were both withdrawn at half time in the 3-0 beatdown at Craven Cottage, so expect the likes of Andre, Joao Gomes and Jackson Tchatchoua to push for recalls here.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Pedro, Garnacho; Delap
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Toti, Krejci, S. Bueno; Tchatchoua, Andre, Gomes, H. Bueno; Munetsi, Bellegarde; Strand Larsen
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We say: Chelsea 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
The new manager bounce phenomenon can work wonders in football, and given Chelsea's taxing 6,000-mile round trip in midweek, Blues fans may not be feeling 100% confident about the visit of the basement boys.
However, Maresca can recall plenty of established stars to his starting lineup, and we therefore cannot see any other result than a fourth win in five PL games for the hosts.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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