£8.5m player starts, as Gary O’Neil rests key man: Predicted Wolves XI v Brentford

£8.5m player starts, as Gary O’Neil rests key man: Predicted Wolves XI v Brentford

Wolves are taking on Brentford tonight in the Premier League and are looking to build on the brilliant win over Chelsea on Christmas Eve.

Gary O’Neil masterminded another great win against one of the division’s big boys on Sunday to boost spirits, after the disappointing defeat to West Ham United.

Mario Lemina and Matt Doherty both scored for Wanderers at Molineux, with Christopher Nkunku pulling one back late on for the visitors.

It was a great result with Wolves worthy winners, but Luton Town’s win over Sheffield United on Boxing Day means the gap down to the relegation zone is still only seven points.

Wanderers would like to pull further clear – and here’s a team O’Neil may field tonight at the Gtech Community Stadium…

Predicted Wolves XI to face Brentford – Santi Bueno starts as O’Neil seeks rare away win

Barring his hospital pass to Joao Gomes, Jose Sa put in a good performance against Chelsea on his return to the side, and should start again between the sticks.

Wolves went back to using wing-backs and a back three against Chelsea and it’s difficult to see O’Neil moving away from that tonight given the performance last time out.

So we’ll likely see Nelson Semedo and Rayan Ait-Nouri out wide, with Max Kilman, Toti Gomes and potentially Santi Bueno as the three centre-halves.

Craig Dawson went off injured against Chelsea, but O’Neil said after the game that he had sustained a deep cut, which medics stitched up. He is in contention to play tonight, but perhaps the manager may not risk the veteran. Key man Dawson has obviously been heavily involved so far this season, and this game is possibly a good opportunity to rotate and hand some minutes to Bueno.

£8.5 million summer signing Bueno has had to be patient, and after the win over Chelsea, O’Neil shouted him out for his cameo after he came on to replace Dawson.

In midfield, Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes were both amazing against Chelsea and are surely going to start again tonight, proving their not too fatigued after their exertions a few days ago.

In attack, it would be no surprise to see Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-chan and Pablo Sarabia start again.

They’ve started the last four Premier League games as a three, with Cunha and Hwang being two big O’Neil favourites having played the majority of matches this term.

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde may be an option depending on how he’s feeling after being struck down by illness recently. Tommy Doyle may also be in the manager’s thinking as a potential third midfielder, with an attack of Cunha and Hwang.

Then, of course, there’s a possibility we may see Pedro Neto tonight, with O’Neil suggesting he was close to being involved against Chelsea. A start for the winger does feel pretty unlikely though, but maybe we will see him come off the bench.

Tonight will be tough. Brentford are looking to pull away from the relegation zone having slipped a bit too close for comfort recently, and they will have the home crowd firmly behind them.

Wolves are not great on their travels, having won just five of their last 35 in the Premier League (via beIN Sports), so a big performance is needed.

Wolves (3-4-3): Sa/Kilman, S.Bueno, Toti/Semedo, Lemina, J.Gomes, Ait-Nouri/Hwang, Cunha, Sarabia.