Match Preview: Wolves v Brentford | OneFootball

Brentford will close their 2024/25 Premier League campaign against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Sunday (4pm kick-off BST).

The Bees are pursuing a second top-half finish in the last three years against a Wolves side who currently sit 14th in the table.

Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the final game of the season.

Pre-match Analysis

Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: The impact of Wolves' Brazilian duo

Two Premier League Manager of the Season nominees clash this Sunday at Molineux as Vítor Pereira and Thomas Frank aim to inspire their respective sides to victory on the final matchweek of the 2024/25 campaign.

Named alongside Liverpool's Arne Slot, Newcastle's Eddie Howe and Nottingham Forest's Nuno Espírito Santo on the shortlist for the prestigious annual award, Pereira and Frank have excelled this term albeit in different circumstances.

The well-travelled Pereira took his first-ever Premier League job back in December, when he succeeded Gary O'Neil in the Wolves dugout; the Midlanders stranded in 19th place at the time with just nine points from their opening 16 games.

Wanderers won two games straight off the bat under Pereira, against Leicester City and Manchester United, and Wolves actually rank joint-ninth for Premier League points won (32) since the former Porto, Olympiakos, Fenerbahçe and Corinthians boss took charge.

No team in the top flight has managed to string together a longer winning streak than Wolves' six-game purple patch back in March and April, after which Pereira scooped the Premier League's Manager of the Month award.

The Portuguese has instilled discipline and defensive solidity, while also squeezing goals out of his two talented forwards Matheus Cunha (15G) and Jørgen Strand Larsen (14G), the former out-performing his expected goals by more (+ 6.74 xG) than any player in the Premier League this season and Norwegian hotshot Larsen boasting the best shot-on-target percentage (60.4) in the division.

However, it is the Old Gold's midfield pairing of Brazilians João Gomes and André that has arguably played an even greater part in Wolves turning the tide under Pereira.

His move to Wolves on last summer's deadline day largely went under the radar, but former Fluminense dynamo André has quickly established himself as one of the most assured holding players in the top flight and the 23-year-old currently has a better pass completion percentage (92.9) than any midfielder to play 2,000+ Premier League minutes this season.

André´s influence has been compounded by how well he dovetails with compatriot Gomes, who ranks fifth in the top flight for tackles won (108) this season, and the pair's technical proficiency and workrate has helped Wolves develop a more measured and secure approach using Pereira’s preferred 3-4-2-1 formation.

That said, Gomes ranks third in the top tier for fouls conceded this season - with 68 - and only Bournemouth (506) have had more free-kicks awarded against them this term than Wolves (473); a statistic Brentford head coach Frank will no doubt look to exploit given his side's set-piece expertise.

On the subject of dead-balls, it is worth noting that Wolves are the only team in the Premier League yet to be awarded a penalty this season - and no club has conceded more spot-kicks than the Midlands outfit (nine, though two were saved).

In search of a 20th Premier League goal of the season (as is his strike partner Yoane Wissa!), Bees penalty specialist Bryan Mbeumo will no doubt be hoping for another opportunity from 12 yards after his first-ever Premier League miss last Sunday at home to Fulham.

A fascinating tussle lies in store and, though they need results to go their way, Brentford fans will no doubt hope the Bees’ dream scenario of an eighth-place finish and a Europa Conference League spot unfolds on the final day.

Scout Report

Dan Long, Sky Sports: Wolves can step things up next season

There is no denying Wolves had among the most challenging starts to the Premier League this season.

They knew it would be hard in June, when the fixtures were released. The prospect of facing Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Man City across the first eight games was daunting.

And it proved to pan out pretty much exactly as they would have, begrudgingly, imagined; they took one point from the first eight - and it was 11 games before they picked up their first win.

Gary O'Neil had been rewarded with a new four-year contract in the summer, so the club would not be tempted into a knee-jerk sacking at that point.

But when they dropped to second bottom again, after a run of four-straight defeats between 30 November and 14 December, they decided to cut their losses.

Four days after O'Neil's exit, Wolves brought in Vítor Pereira as his successor. The Portuguese - who joined from Saudi Pro League side Al-Shabab - had been linked with the Everton job on several occasions in the past, but a move to Merseyside had never materialised.

The new manager bounce was in full flow as Wolves beat Leicester and Manchester United, then drew with Tottenham, in his first three games. However, another four-match losing streak had some feeling as though they were back to square one.

"It will be a long way, a tough way, but with this tactical quality and spirit, I am sure that we will be in the Premier League next season," Pereira said after his side bounced back with a 2-0 win at home to Aston Villa on 1 February.

At the start of March, things started to click for him. Wolves drew 1-1 with Everton on 8 March, then - seemingly from nowhere - went on a six-game winning streak. It was the first time they had done so in the top flight of English football in 55 years.

By 5 April, they had all-but secured safety for another year, moving 12 points clear of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win at Ipswich.

"We have quality in the squad," said Pereira after the 1-0 win at Old Trafford on 20 April, which mathematically put relegation out of the equation.

"When we arrived, the confidence was not at a high level. We started to give them confidence, a tactical plan and the results help to build something. We are building something good for the future."

There will have been no objections to the 56-year-old winning Premier League Manager of the Month award after a perfect April - but the fabled curse that often comes with it has not been kind, with Wolves going on to suffer three defeats on the trot ahead of the final day.

But Pereira has guided Wolves away from real danger in his first six months in England, though, and with plenty of credit in the bank as a result, he should be given the chance to help step things up in 2025/26.

In the Dugout

Vítor Pereira

Vítor Pereira had a 10-year playing career as a midfielder in the lower leagues of his native Portugal, but hung his boots up at the age of just 28 in 1996 and ventured into youth coaching, first at Padroense, then at Porto.

In 2004, he took on his first role at senior level with Sanjoanense, before two years at Espinho and another two at Santa Clara, with a brief return to Porto in between.

In the summer of 2010, he went back to Porto for a third time, this time to work as assistant to André Villas-Boas - and when his fellow Portuguese left for Chelsea one year later, Pereira stepped up to become head coach in his own right.

He spent two seasons at Estadio do Dragao, during which time he led the club to two Primeira Liga titles and two Portuguese Super Cups.

Despite reports he was a potential replacement for the outgoing David Moyes at Everton in the summer of 2013, he instead joined Al-Ahli, but left for Olympiacos halfway through a two-year deal.

He lasted just six months there, but oversaw a Super League and Greek Cup double during that time.

Then came spells at Fenerbahçe and 1860 Munich, before he departed for Chinese Super League outfit Shanghai SIPG, where, ironically, he replaced former colleague Villas-Boas.

After three years in China, Pereira briefly returned to Fenerbahçe, before he went to Brazil to manage Corinthians, then Flamengo, before going back to Saudi Arabia to take charge of Al-Shabab.

But six days before Christmas last year, he made the long-awaited move to England when he signed an 18-month deal to replace Gary O’Neil at Wolves.

The Gameplan

With Steve Madeley, Wolves writer for The Athletic

Steve Madeley, Wolves writer for The Athletic, explains how Vítor Pereira is likely to set up his side to face the Bees on Sunday.

"One of the things Pereira did when he came in for Gary O'Neil was just to simplify everything," said Madeley.

"I think in his desperate and understandable attempt to find a way out of the spiral that they were in, O'Neil tried all kinds of different things tactically and technically to put it right.

"It became a bit of a muddle by the end. Now Pereira has come in, you know what you are going to get every week.

"It is 3-4-2-1; one up front, two inside forwards just off the striker, wing-backs providing the width and then the three centre-backs spreading quite wide in possession and trying to play out from the back.

"They do, where they can, try to play from the goalkeeper, but are not a real, extreme high-pressed team.

"They play a medium block, so they will probably let Brentford have the ball in their own defensive third, but once they get into that middle area, Wolves will be quite tenacious in the press."

Last starting XI v Crystal Palace on Tuesday night: Bentley; Djiga, Agbadou, J Gomes; R Gomes, Bellegarde, André, Aït-Nouri; Sarabia, Guedes; Strand Larsen

Read our full interview with Steve Madeley here

Match Officials

Pawson the man in the middle for Sunday's game at Molineux

Referee: Craig Pawson

Assistants: Ian Hussin and Andrew Dallison

Fourth official: John Busby

Video assistant referee: Alex Chilowicz

Craig Pawson will take charge of his second Brentford game of the season on Sunday.

The Yorkshire-born 46-year-old refereed the Bees’ 2-1 win at Bournemouth in March.

Pawson has officiated 30 matches this campaign, mostly in the Premier League, showing 115 yellow cards and five reds.

Last Meeting

Brentford 5 Wolves 3 (Premier League, 5 October 2024)

Brentford picked up all three points following a thoroughly entertaining clash against Wolves at Gtech Community Stadium.

Nathan Collins, Bryan Mbeumo, Christian Nørgaard and Ethan Pinnock were all on target in the first half, with Matheus Cunha and Jørgen Strand Larsen netting for the visitors.

Fábio Carvalho and Rayan Aït-Nouri both scored in the closing moments at either end of the pitch.

That win was one of three victories on home turf in October, with the Bees also defeating Ipswich Town 4-3 and beating Sheffield Wednesday on penalties in the Carabao Cup later that month.