Team News…
Graham Potter revealed in his pre-Everton press conference, way back on 13 March, that Niclas Füllkrug has now resumed training with the squad and is edging ever closer to a return.
The Germany forward has been absent from first-team action since suffering a hamstring injury in Potter's first match in charge in east London, at Aston Villa in January.
Elsewhere, Crysencio Summerville continues his recovery from a hamstring problem, but Vladimír Coufal is expected to be available for selection again having started both games for the Czech Republic during the international break.
Wolves are expected to be without Matheus Cunha, who continues to serve a suspension following his FA Cup red card against AFC Bournemouth at the start of March. Fellow forwards Saša Kalajdžić, Leon Chiwome and Enso González are missing through injury alongside long-term defensive absentee Yerson Mosquera.
Opposition…
It is close to nine years since Wolverhampton Wanderers were bought by Chinese investment group Fosun.
After being relegated from the Premier League in 2012, and dropped into League One the following year, Wolves returned to the second tier in 2014.
They missed out on the Play-Offs by a single place in 2014/15, then finished the 2015/16 season in 14th place in the Championship, with supporters increasingly unhappy at the direction the club appeared to be travelling in.
Fosun’s arrival did not initially lead to an improvement in on-field results, with Wolves employing three managers in their first season in charge - Kenny Jackett, Italian Walter Zenga and Scot Paul Lambert - on their way to a 15th-place Championship finish.
However, the appointment of Portuguese Nuno Espírito Santo in May 2017, combined with Fosun’s close relationship with Nuno’s compatriot, agent Jorge Mendes, saw Wolves’ fortunes rapidly improve thereafter.
Mendes used his influence and contacts to bring in a succession of Portuguese players to Molineux - Ivan Cavaleiro and Hélder Costa had arrived in July 2016, followed by Rúben Neves, Rúben Vinagre and Diogo Jota the following summer.
All five played starring roles as Wolves won the Championship title in 2017/18, before their fellow countrymen Rui Patrício and João Moutinho, Mexico striker Raúl Jiménez and Spanish pair Adama Traoré and Jonny were signed to help the club finish seventh in the Premier League the following season.
The 2019/20 season brought a second successive seventh-place finish and a run to the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals under the unflappable Nuno.
That level of achievement was always likely to be difficult to maintain, especially after Nuno’s departure to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2021, and Wolves have settled for four mid-table finishes in the last four seasons under three different managers.
Yet another Portuguese, Bruno Lage, took Wolves to tenth in 2021/22. Spaniard Julen Lopetegui replaced him in November 2022 and led the Old Gold to safety, before departing in August 2023.
Former West Ham United midfielder Gary O’Neil then guided Wolves to 14th and the FA Cup quarter-finals last term, but the West Midlands side struggled for consistency throughout the early part of 2024/25, and the 2-1 home defeat to Ipswich Town in December signalled the end of O’Neil’s reign.
The Old Gold moved quickly to bring in Vítor Pereira, who inherited a team 19th in the table with just two league wins all season, a club deep in relegation trouble.
However, Pereira, who has won league titles with Porto, Olympiacos and Shanghai SIPG, has steadied the ship at Molineux, with Wolves 13th with 17 points from 13 games in a table based only on results since the Portuguese took charge in mid-December.
That puts them above Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, and those positive vibes offer hope of a successful first full campaign at the helm for Pereira in 2025/26, if they can first confirm their Premier League status before the summer.