Following the sacking of Gary O'Neil, Wolves have appointed former Porto boss Vitor Pereria. The Portuguese manager takes the helm after the continuous poor form at Molineux, and the expectation is that he can keep the Black Country side up this season.
A dismal 2-1 defeat at home to relegation rivals Ipswich Town mean Wolves are embedded in the drop zone, and it will be a huge challenge for them to stay up, considering their upcoming run of fixtures, which sees them play Tottenham, Man United, and Nottingham Forest from next week.
However, their attentions are turned to the King Power Stadium this weekend as they face Leicester, and look to creep their way back into the fight of staying in the Premier League.
-
Style of play
Under Pereira, Al Shabab were known to play a three at the back formation when in possession, switching to a five when out of possession. This is something that suits Wolves almost perfectly, as they have often played with a three defender formation since their promotion to the top flight in 2018.
Pereira is also known to have his side being defensively solid, which is once again ideal for Wolves, given their defensive struggles this season.
It is expected that the Old Gold will line-up with three defenders against Leicester, with the new coach incorporating some of his own attacking tactics, which could possibly be different to what we saw under Gary O'Neil.
The Foxes have not been the most lethal in their attacking efforts this season, but could still be a huge test based on the form of the current Wolves defenders, and so Pereira will need to drill his side into being defensively solid as their first point of call.
This could be the key to Wolves staying up this season.
-
Must win game
If Wolves are to stay up, this is an absolute must-win game. Leicester sit 17th on 14 points, and if the home side grab the victory, Pereira's men will be eight points adrift from their Midlands counterparts.
Their loss to Ipswich saw the Tractor Boys create a three point gap between the two, with the Norfolk side also moving up to 18th in the table.
As mentioned previously, they face an extremely difficult run after this and could be in deeper trouble as they continue to drop points against the stronger sides.
The squad, as well as the new manager, will know the current circumstances, and will have to group together in order to get back to winning ways. Two massive wins against Southampton and Fulham proved that the team have enough quality to win games, and they will need to rediscover their hunger and desire to play like that again; as a team - not losing their heads constantly.
Leicester will also know how important this game could be for their season, but Wolves arguably have more quality, and will need to use it at its maximum to earn a big three points.
-
Form against Foxes
Wolves do not have the best record against Leicester in recent years.
Leicester have won four of their last six meetings with the Old Gold, whereas Wolves have only won one. Their last victory against the Foxes came in February 2022, when Ruben Neves and Daniel Podencegrabbed the goals 2-1.
This is their only win against the Foxes however since the start of 2019, when Wolves recorded a famous 4-3 last minute winner at Molineux.
Fans of the Old Gold will always be haunted by the 4-0 thrashing at home in late 2022, in which, strangely enough, only one player from the starting XI of that fixture is still at Wolves - Jose Sa. A very quick turnaround of the squad in such a short period of time.
Vitor Pereira will be hoping he can turn his side's form around, not only against Leicester but in general, as they look to end their losing run and work their way back into the hunt for survival in the Premier League.
