Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Chelsea – EPL, December 15, 2020

These two sides lost to penalties in their respective games at the weekend – and would both feel as though they were worth at least a draw.

Wolves look like it will really miss top striker Raul Jimenez but still have a lot of young talent in the first-team squad. Frank Lampard is also in charge of a lot of inexperienced players at Chelsea – but is starting to get some results now.

Wolves are definitely missing its main goal-getter, but I’m not sure that the pricing for this game is fair to the Black Country side – especially considering that it will be at home on Tuesday.

Chelsea has some injury problems of its own, and I feel as though the draw bet might be worth investigating here.

Wolves held out until stoppage time in a tempestuous West Midlands derby with Villa at the weekend but then suffered the heartbreak of a penalty with virtually the last kick of the game to hand the points to its opponents. With Raul Jimenez out for a while, there was a distinct lack of the final touch showing all day.

Wolves haven’t looked quite as incisive as it did last season and looked to be missing the darting runs of Diogo Jota long before the Jimenez incident last week. Manager Nuno Espirito Santo turned to teenager Fabio Silva against Villa, but he will need a few more games under his belt before he has a strong impact on how this team gets on.

Chelsea’s defenders should be able to deal with the Portuguese striker, but they will also have their hands full with a Wolves midfield that likes to attack at pace. But Frank Lampard may need to come up with something new once again when it comes to the attacking prowess of his side. With Ziyech, Pulisic and Hudson-Odoi all out injured, there is a distinct lack of creativity in the team now.

That’s not to say that there are not some very good players – but Everton was able to deal with Chelsea fairly easily on Saturday. The first half penalty came about because of a mistake from keeper Mendy, and that was all the home side needed in the end. Chelsea must ensure that it doesn’t make any errors at Molineux on Tuesday.

I’m not sure whether I have a little more faith in Wolves than the bookmakers – or if I feel that Chelsea will miss a creative spark – but the draw looks good here in a game that brings together two good teams that do have some limitations when there are players injured.