Wolves vs Southampton predictions: Saints to prolong Wolves' wait for home win

Wolves will look to get their first Premier League win of the season on the board when they host Southampton at Molineux on Saturday, kick off at 3pm. 

Bruno Lage's men came pretty close to breaking their duck against Bournemouth in midweek when they hit the bar, had one cleared off the line, and missed a one-on-one chance in a 0-0 draw. 

Their desperation for goals led to further transfer activity late in the window with the acquisition of 6ft 7in Austrian target man Sasa Kalajdzic while long-term fancy Boubacar Traore joined on loan with a view to a permanent deal on deadline day. 

The Saints were busy on Thursday too, striking deals to bring in four new faces while parting company with five senior players to give Ralph Hasenhuttl's squad an increasingly fresh look. 

A wave of optimism has washed over Southampton after two wins from their last three games took the youngest squad in the Premier League into the top half. 

Team news

Both managers are expected to rotate their line-ups to counteract the toll of midweek matches with Lage likely to freshen things up in attack. 

Kalajdzic, newly signed from Stuttgart, could make his Wolves debut from the start if Raul Jimenez needs a breather while Goncalo Guedes could also make way for Daniel Podence. 

Rayan Ait-Nouri is a candidate to come back in for Nelson Semedo on the left side of Lage's back four with Jonny Castro then switching over to the right. 

Traore should go straight onto the bench as he replaces Leander Dendoncker, who was allowed to join Aston Villa for a reported £13million fee in the final hours of the transfer window. 

Southampton could parade three of their new signings at Molineux, but former Marseille centre-back Duje Caleta-Car is set to miss the trip to the Black Country. 

Armel Bella-Kotchap's superb performance in Southampton's midweek win over Chelsea meant it was unlikely his place was under threat anyway with Hasenhuttl expected to keep him alongside Mohammed Salisu. 

Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Samuel Edozie and Juan Larios are all available to play, but the Saints boss has no reason to make too many changes right now. 

Romeo Lavia, however, is going to miss at least six weeks of action with the hamstring injury that forced him off in Tuesday's 2-1 win at St Mary's as the midfielder joins Tino Livramento on the sidelines. 

Oriol Romeu, Jack Stephens, Jan Bednarek, Yan Valery and Mateusz Lis left the club this week. 

The stats

Wolves' last league victory at Molineux was against Aston Villa in April, a period without a home win that stretches back longer than any other current Premier League team. 

No Premier League side has claimed more points from losing positions this season than Southampton (7), with both of their wins and their one draw seeing them recover from the blow of conceding the first goal. 

Hasenhuttl's starting XI for Tuesday's 2-1 win over Chelsea was the second-youngest line-up named for a Premier League match this season with an average age of 24.1, just behind his team for the 2-1 win at Leicester (23.7). 

Southampton have recorded the joint-fewest offsides in the top flight this season (3). 

At just over 40%, the Saints are winning the lowest ratio of their aerial duels in the Premier League. 

Prediction

Southampton wish they could translate the ability to launch stirring comebacks into making better starts in games, but they can also be devastating on the counter-attack. 

Che Adams, Adam Armstrong and Mohamed Elyounoussi caused Chelsea plenty of problems on Tuesday with the Scottish striker, in particular, enjoying a rich run of form right now. 

And with Bella-Kotchap holding the fort admirably in defence, they will be confident of recording back-to-back away wins in the Premier League for the first time since 2020. 

Wolves have lacked a killer touch so far this season, but Kalajdzic's arrival could change all that and it will be interesting to see if he gets any joy against Southampton's defenders this weekend. 

However, both sides may have to settle for a share of the spoils on Saturday with defences likely to be on top.