Preview

 

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Pre-Season Friendlies clash between Crewe Alexandra and Wolverhampton Wanderers, including predictions, team news and head to head.

Bruno Lage's reign at Wolverhampton Wanderers gets underway on Saturday afternoon as the Premier League outfit square off against Crewe Alexandra.

While Wolves are playing their first pre-season friendly of the summer, their hosts have already gotten up to speed with two matches since July 11.

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Match preview

Despite the appointment of Lage dividing opinion among the Wolves fanbase, it became apparent earlier this year that the former Benfica boss was the go-to man if Nuno Espirito Santo ever departed Molineux.

Nevertheless, even with Lage's arrival coming as a surprise to no-one, the Portuguese will still have to go work tirelessly to get the best out of a squad which remains in transition.

More players, both young and experienced, will leave the club over the coming weeks, and Lage is far away from being able to work with a settled group.

That said, the instruction will be that those available on Saturday will need to hit the ground running as he looks to move away from the methodical style of play used by Nuno.

All eyes will be on whether Lage is prepared to move away from a back three, but there is also intrigue with regards to how Francisco Trincao will fare having arrived from Barcelona.

While Raul Jimenez will take centre stage on his first outing since fracturing his skull in November, Crewe are motivated to cause a surprise at their home ground.

Alexandra ended the last campaign by recording 11 points from five matches, resulting in the club finishing in 12th position in the League One standings.

That was deemed more than acceptable for their first season back in the third tier, but David Artell will now be targeting a run at a playoff spot.

Artell will be delighted with his business in the transfer market having secured the services of Tommie Hoban and Shaun MacDonald from Aberdeen and Rotherham United respectively.

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Team News

Jimenez will play some part of the fixture at Gresty Road, as will Trincao having spent time training with his new teammates.

However, Wolves are missing many members of their first-team squad, including Conor Coady and Joao Moutinho, due to representing their respective nations at Euro 2020.

Goalkeeper John Ruddy will line up between the sticks with Jose Sa having only signed for Wolves on Thursday.

As well as Hoban and MacDonald, Crewe boss Artell could also hand starts to fellow new signings Kanye Ramsey and Chris Long.

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Head To Head

Having spent a large period of their existence in the Football League, Wolves have crossed paths with Crewe on 25 occasions.

Wolves have claimed 13 wins and eight draws from those matches, the most recent triumph coming in a Football League Trophy tie back in 2016.

As far as league fixtures are concerned, Wolves posted 2-0 victories both home and away during their League One title-winning campaign during 2013-14.

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We say: Crewe Alexandra 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers

With Crewe having more minutes in their legs and Wolves missing several senior players, everything points in the direction of a surprise win for the home side. However, Lage's players will be motivated to make an impression, leading us to predict a late victory for the top-flight club.

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