Everton v Wolves - Liam Keen and Nathan Judah preview
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Hello I'm Nathan Tudor, I'm here with World Report, it's Mr. Liam Keane, we're back at
00:12Compton Park, seems like only yesterday, we're going to be back on Thursday as well, as we
00:16preview the West Ham game, but there's a game between that and that is Everton away, can't
00:20wait, and Gary O'Neill can't wait as well because they'll want to put a few wrongs to
00:25bed won't they after Saturday, and look, the good news is, I guess, team news wise?
00:30Yes, very short and sweet, no issues according to Gary O'Neill, I'm hoping we don't get any
00:36shocks tomorrow when the teams are announced, but he said everyone has trained, so that'll
00:40be obviously the players who are back in the squad for Bournemouth, which was Dawson, Santi
00:44Bueno, Sam Johnstone and Pablo Sarabia, no issues on top of those returning players,
00:50obviously Huang's not long come back into the team, so all looks good, hopefully between
00:55now and tomorrow evening there's no issues and we'll have a full and fit squad to choose
00:59from.
01:00Yeah, well let's talk about the squad, Jose Sarr of course was involved in an incident
01:03at half-time, but Gary O'Neill's kind of said that he's given his full support and will
01:08be ready tomorrow night.
01:10Yes, which is I think expected, I don't think you can flip-flop too much on goalkeepers
01:16for one bad performance or one incident in the crowd, they're trying to move past that
01:21internally with Jose, and he is an emotional character, I still don't think it's a great
01:25look for the player or for the club, but who will care if they go to Goodison Park and
01:31get a win.
01:32I think Gary was quite bullish at times in the press conference, he said look, I seem
01:38to be asked at every press conference, I don't know if you guys believe me, but I've got
01:40zero concerns over my future or my coaching future, if we'll make a decision after the
01:46result's not been good enough I'm confident in what I do and confident in the work I put
01:50in and I think he's very eager to see a response out of his team going into what will be a
01:56tough game tomorrow, no disrespect to Everton, but I think Wolves quality-wise are on a much
02:01better side to be perfectly honest, but with the fans, with the old-school stadium on top
02:07of you, it's a difficult place to go and particularly mid-week, under the full of lights, it will
02:11not be easy, it will not be warm, it will be a pretty...
02:16It'll be uncomfortable for us.
02:17It'll be uncomfortable for us.
02:18Worst first box in the history of the Premier League.
02:19Yeah, mid-week is fantastic, it'll be a brutal game and that's why my prediction, some people
02:26disagree with me here, I was chatting to some comments, I know, I know, and I'd love this
02:31to be played back when I am wrong because hopefully it'll be a very convincing Wolves
02:33win, but I do think it'll be a tough watch tomorrow, that doesn't mean Wolves won't get
02:37a result, but I do think it'll be a difficult game because of the, not because of Wolves,
02:42but because of the way Everton will play and the way they'll approach it.
02:44Like you say, it's quite bullish Gary O'Neill about his future and he says that, look, there's
02:49a lot of stuff on the pitch, but there's a lot of stuff off the pitch that he's working
02:51hard on as well, working together with players, developing relationships, but at the same
02:55time when these players cross that white line, he can't do a lot about it and what they've
02:59got to do, especially tomorrow night, is eradicate early mistakes because if they go one down,
03:05two down early, then that's game over really and you can't do that, you can't keep on doing
03:09that in these games.
03:10And for this particular game, you can't give the home fans a sort of opportunity to get
03:15into the game. Now they'll do their own thing regardless, but Wolves can be very good at
03:19frustrating teams and can keep it tight and can frustrate. If they can do that while finding
03:25the balance between allowing players like Mateus Cunha and Jorgen Strand-Larsen to show
03:28their quality, Wolves are more than capable of going there and winning this game. But
03:32the reason I think it'll be a tough watch is balls into the box, set pieces, physicality,
03:38hence why I think Wolves will play probably five at the back and a lot of their centre-halves.
03:41Yeah, but at the same time, like you say, even though the Wolves fans are kind of on
03:45Gary Neill's back or quite a lot of them at this moment in time, they will be on Everton
03:50as well and if they can quiet them down, if they can get that early goal, especially them
03:53losing to Manchester United 4-0 the other day, then that could be perfect for Wolves,
03:56especially when Everton have to go forward and then that can suit them a counter-attacking
04:00game.
04:01Yeah, an early goal would be, I mean, you could say that most weeks, couldn't you?
04:04Especially in this game.
04:05Especially in this game, I think it's a fair point because the Everton fans, as good as
04:10they are in terms of making atmosphere, will be ready to go as well. Now, some people might
04:15tell me otherwise, I don't obviously follow Everton as closely, but I do feel that they've
04:18got the potential to turn very quickly on that manager and on the sort of situation
04:23they're in. They're not the best team to watch, but they will be physical, they will be difficult
04:29and dangerous from set pieces and that in itself is Wolves' challenge because we know
04:33how bad they've been from set pieces this season. So, 32 goals conceded in 13 Premier
04:37League games for a reason. Wolves have to improve on that and as you say, early mistakes
04:42have to be cut out.
04:43So, let's go to team news then. Do they go five at the back? Does Craig Dawson, Santiago
04:46Bueno come into it? Where does that leave Mario Lamina and Nelson Samedo suspended?
04:51There's a lot of options and a lot of ways that Gary Neal can go in this game.
04:53Yeah, as we say every week, Wolves are a difficult side to predict, which makes our lives much
04:57easier for these videos. I do think it'll be five. I do think Dawson and Santi both
05:02come in, which probably leaves Alfie Pons as your only centre-half on the bench. I don't
05:08think Bastien will be in the position to come in just yet.
05:11Or Mario Lamina.
05:12Or Mario Lamina, of course, yes. I think Doc will come in for Samedo. I think that should
05:16be a like for like. And in this particular game, I think we spoke about it before, it's
05:20not a bad game for him to come in as well. So, I think that will work.
05:24And he hasn't played for Ireland as well, so it's not like he's been out of the game.
05:26He hasn't played for a long time.
05:27And he's an experienced player. You would trust him to come in and do a job for certain.
05:32I think they'll go to midfield and I think one of them will be dropped. I think that
05:35will be Andre, of the three players. And I think Lamina will go back into midfield. That
05:39would make it a 5-3. I could see a world of 5-3 too, but I think he's been very sort of
05:45reluctant to go back to the three midfields. I think it's hard to believe that will happen.
05:50And that leaves that third and final attacking spot, as we always say, is the one to fill.
05:54I've gone for Huang in my prediction. His minutes recently would suggest that might
05:58be unlikely, but I feel like the game might suit him. And I think Gary will be desperate
06:02to get him into the team, hopefully in form again.
06:04OK, I'm going to change slightly. I'm going to say he's going to play three midfield.
06:08I think Andre Lamina and Giorgos will play. I think Doc, being a bit more attacking than
06:12Nelson Samedo, I think will go down that line and put balls into Jürgen Strand-Larsen.
06:19And also, we need a little bit more from Reinhardt Nouri. Can he be that kind of player that
06:22we all know he is? Because I haven't shown it for a month. If he can get down that left-hand
06:26side and be that menace that they need to be, which allows Cunha still to drop inside,
06:29let's hope. Because when he's not getting in those advanced positions, it makes Cunha's
06:32life a little bit more difficult. And he's out there on that left-hand side. So if he
06:35can just tuck it into that pocket, then it could be a different game. I'm going to say
06:38two on Wolves.
06:39I'll take that.
06:40I know you would.
06:42I'm going to say, and this is not great.
06:44I know, it's going to be a honking.
06:45It's not great. I'm sticking by my prediction, and I hope I'm wrong. I'm sticking by my prediction
06:49of it being a tough watch.
06:52Don't let us go all the way there for no goals.
06:53I'm going 0-0.
06:54Oh, my God.
06:56I hope I'm wrong. I really hope I'm wrong.
06:57I've literally vomited all in my mouth.
06:58That'll be a rough drive home. I think, look, Everton, again, I don't want to be disrespectful
07:06because they've got some quality, but I think Wolves' quality is definitely better. They
07:11struggle to score goals, and to be honest, they struggle to keep them out as well. Wolves
07:15are obviously good at scoring them, struggle to keep them out. I just think a midweek game
07:20lends itself, and the physicality of it, lends itself to being a tough watch. But if Wolves
07:24are 3-0 up after 30 minutes, then I'll be very, very pleased.
07:27Yeah, fingers crossed. We'll both be at Goodstone Park tomorrow, very, very cold and cramped.
07:31For all the build-up on this one, make sure you log on to expressandstar.com.