West Brom told to be ‘wary’ of 130-cap Wolves star who could ‘punish’ them | OneFootball

FLW’s West Brom fan pundit has revealed which Wolves player he’s most fearful of ahead of this weekend’s Black Country derby at Molineux.

One of the fieriest fixtures in the EFL Championship calendar is approaching this weekend, with Wolves hosting West Brom at Molineux in the Black Country derby.

A first league meeting between the two bitter rivals since 2021 will get underway at Sunday lunchtime, with the pair aiming to keep their impressive starts to the season going.

Wolves, recently coming down from the Premier League, are hovering around the promotion picture, with a 1-0 victory away at Sheffield United last week meaning they’ve won three out of their last five league games and have 11 points on the board.

Meanwhile, the Baggies have carried on their excellent turnaround under James Morrison, with Albion taking 14 points from their opening seven matches and also staking a claim for a promotion push.

Therefore, it should be an enthralling match between two excellent sides who will be giving their all to earn the bragging rights heading into the three-week international break.

As the fixture draws nearer, fans from both teams will be nervous about what players from the opposition could step up and do them damage.

So with this in mind, FLW’s West Brom fan pundit has revealed which Wolves player he is most fearful of for their showdown.

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What makes the Black Country derby such an interesting watch in the early stages of the season is that both sides come into the clash off the back of successful starts to the new campaign, and for West Brom, James Morrison is continuing to work his magic after being given the role of leading the team on a full-time basis.

Albion claimed a very impressive 2-1 win on the road at Norwich City to kickstart their term and then followed it up with a 3-1 victory at The Hawthorns over recently relegated Burnley to win their opening two matches.

Their only defeat of the campaign so far was away at promotion-contenders Middlesbrough, but they arrested the slide by drawing at home against Charlton Athletic and then securing back-to-back victories over Watford and Derby County.

The Baggies come into the Black Country derby following a 1-1 draw against fellow high-flyers Queens Park Rangers, meaning Albion have taken 14 points from their opening seven league games and will hold much confidence that they can claim all three points at Molineux.

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Speaking to Football League World, West Brom fan pundit Callum Burgess has revealed he is fearful of Raul Jimenez doing the most damage for Wolves in the Black Country derby, with the 130-capped Mexican international having a ruthless game to punish the Albion defence, should they give him the opportunity.

Callum told FLW: “Being a team that was in the Premier League last season, Wolves possess a lot of threats and strength in depth like many parachute payment teams do, but I think with the likes of Raul Jimenez in particular, although he’s not as fast as he once was, he’s still got the grips of it mentally, and Albion defenders will have to be switched on for the entire game and can’t afford to switch off for a split second.

“As an England fan at the World Cup with his penalty, it shows he can punish you very easily, so I think that Albion’s defence definitely needs to be wary of whoever starts as the centre forward on Sunday, whether that be Jimenez or Adam Armstrong.”

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While West Brom will have massive confidence that they can get a result at Molineux this weekend given how well they’ve started the season, this is a massive step-up in test and will be an indicator as to whether they can be true promotion contenders under James Morrison.

Against a hostile Molineux crowd, Albion will be the underdogs and expected to have less possession, so they will have to rely on having a watertight defence if they are to come away from the derby with any points.

And of course, one of the main danger men will be Raul Jimenez, who once again showed his worth by popping up with an injury-time winner to give Wolves all three points against Sheffield United last weekend.

A vastly experienced player both in the Premier League and on the international stage, Albion could well be punished if they give Jimenez any time or space in the box, so the likes of Nat Phillips and George Campbell will have to be at the top of their games to neutralise him from minute one in order to get a positive result.

Jimenez has every chance of starting the derby given his heroics at Bramall Lane too, and he will certainly be the man to keep quiet if Albion are to cause an upset on Sunday.