Wolves vs Charlton: Wolves Look to Punish a Side That Has Not Won in Five

Let me be straight with you. This is a game Wolves need to win. Not should win. Need to win. Their form over the last five Championship matches reads two wins, one draw, and two losses. That is not good enough for a home side. The thing is, if you cannot impose yourself on a team that has not won in five, when can you?

Wolves Form: Inconsistent and Unconvincing

Wolves beat Burnley two goals to one and picked up a one-nil victory over West Brom in that five-match sample. Fine. But they lost one-three to Bolton Wanderers and one-nil to Middlesbrough. Bolton and Middlesbrough. At home, you cannot be giving goals away like that and expect anyone to take you seriously.

The goals-against column tells the story. Six conceded in five matches. A clean sheet rate of twenty percent. That is a backline with no real accountability. You either defend as a team or you do not defend at all. Right now, Wolves are not defending at all.

The one thing I will say is that a home crowd on a Saturday afternoon gives you something. Standards have to be met in front of your own supporters. That is not a tactical point. That is a basics point.

Charlton: No Wins, No Desire, No Answers

Listen, Charlton's recent record is almost impressive in how bad it is. No wins from five Championship matches. Three draws and two defeats. They conceded eight goals and scored four. Watford beat them two-nil. Cardiff beat them three-one. These are not results you can dress up.

The three draws might fool someone into thinking there is resilience in this side. There is not. A draw against Burnley at two-all and a one-one with Bristol City tells me they can compete for spells. It tells me nothing about their ability to see a game out or go and win one when it matters.

Twenty percent clean sheet rate away from home. That matches Wolves exactly. The difference is Wolves are at home. Charlton have to come here and defend. Based on the evidence, that is not something they do well.

The Argument for a Wolves Win

The thing is, these two sides have between them produced goals at a rate of sixty percent both-teams-to-score across their recent matches. Wolves have shipped goals. Charlton have shipped goals. Someone is going to score here. The question is who scores more.

Wolves at home, with a side in front of them that has not won in five, should be able to settle this. Their attitude has to be right from the first whistle. No slow starts. No sitting back waiting to see what happens. Go and compete. Win your individual battles. Force errors. These are not complicated instructions. They are the basics.

Charlton will sit in and try to frustrate. That is the only logical approach for a side with no wins and no momentum. Wolves have to have the desire to break that down. If they do not, this becomes another frustrating afternoon and another dropped point at home.

The Verdict

I am backing Wolves to win this. Not because they have been brilliant. They have not. But because Charlton have shown absolutely nothing in five matches to suggest they can go somewhere and take three points. Wolves have the home advantage and they have the firepower to cause problems against a leaky away defence.

If Wolves play with the right attitude and compete for ninety minutes, they win. End of.