PREVIEW: Chelsea head to Wolves with top four in sight | OneFootball

Chelsea travel to Wolves aiming to make a return to the Premier League’s top four.

The Blues, a point behind Manchester United in 5th, exited the Carabao Cup in midweek after a 4-2 aggregate loss to Arsenal.

The visitors are still bottom having picked up just eight points so far this term, leaving them cut and dry in the relegation zone by 18 points.

However, the start of 2026 saw a small revitalisation for Wanderers as they picked up five points from their first three league games of the new year.

Their tally in the new year is more than they had managed in the prior 25 outings.

Both sides have changed managers, with Chelsea swapping Enzo Maresca for Liam Rosenior at the turn of the year and Wolves replacing Vitor Pereira with former Luton Town boss Rob Edwards in November.

When these two sides met in league action earlier in the campaign, Chelsea came out on top by three goals to nil at Stamford Bridge, courtesy of second-half goals from Malo Gusto, Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto.

But since the black and gold side’s return to the Premier League in 2018, they have had the better of Chelsea on five occasions.

Things could start to turn from bad to worse this season for Wolves as they sold first team striker Jorgen Strand Larsen to Crystal Palace on deadline day.

The Norwegian had netted six times in all competitions this term, including an FA Cup hat-trick against Shrewsbury Town.

In the Blue corner, though, summer signing Joao Pedro is in fine form, finding the net five times and assisting once in his last six appearances for Chelsea.

The Brazilian played a crucial role in his side’s dramatic comeback win last weekend, scoring Chelsea’s first and assisting fellow South American Enzo Fernández for a stoppage-time winner.

The centre-forward was also heavily involved in the melee at the end of the game, with West Ham United defender Jean-Clair Todibo seeing red for violent conduct after he grabbed Pedro by the throat.

Chelsea talisman Cole Palmer has been struggling with injury this season, only featuring in 13 of his side’s Premier League encounters so far.

Speaking on the England international, head coach Liam Rosenior said: He’s bought in and been magnificent. He wants to be playing every minute of every game.

“We know the player and the character that he is, but he’s also maturing, and he understands the bigger picture, which is his career.”

The Blues boss believes Palmer will be able to feature for the full 90 minutes this weekend, if required.

Rosenior also confirmed that winger Jamie Gittens will not feature in Saturday’s match after he suffered a torn hamstring and will be out “a little bit more long term.”

The match will take place on Saturday, February 7th, at Molineux Stadium, with a 3pm UK time kick-off.