In their third Premier League match of the 2025/26 campaign, Everton travel to the Molineux Stadium to face Wolverhampton Wanderers.

​Managed by Vitor Pereira, who nearly landed the Everton job in 2022, Wolves enjoyed a resurgence in the second half of last season. He inherited Gary O’Neil’s team in December with the club in 19th place and won 10 of their last 22 games to finish 17 points clear of the relegation zone.

​To start this season, Wolves lost their first two Premier League matches, against Manchester City and Bournemouth, before delivering a comeback victory midweek against West Ham in the EFL Cup. So what can Everton expect from the home side on Saturday?

​In Defence

​Pereira did a fantastic job of improving their defense, which was one of the leakiest in the league before he joined.

​Unlike O’Neil, Pereira consistently used a 3-4-2-1 formation—deployed in every game under him last year and all three matches this season.

​Wolves push their full-backs high, making Joao Gomes and Andre crucial in midfield. The two Brazilians lead in tackles and recoveries.

​There’s some trouble in paradise in this midfield, though. After starting last year's reliable pair against Manchester City, Perreira dropped Andre at the weekend, citing the midfielder's poor performances in training.

​But while they didn’t start the game against West Ham, the two did play together for the last quarter of an hour and performed well in their usual midfield roles.

​Pereira also moved Matt Doherty from full-back into their back three, and signed 28-year-old Ivorian centre-back Emmanuel Agbadou, who performed brilliantly and led their defence from the centre of the three.

​But so far this season, things haven’t been so solid. In their three competitive fixtures, they’ve conceded seven goals, and in the Premier League, they’ve conceded the second-worst xG with 3.8 (only Everton’s is worse with 4.6).

​Agbadou, especially, has looked out of sorts. The player who was so solid last campaign struggled massively against Manchester City, giving away the ball in the lead-up to their second goal, and generally looking less confident in his tackling. Against Bournemouth, it was more of the same, a poor attempt at a block deflecting off him and past the keeper for the Cherries' winning goal.

​Despite winning against West Ham in midweek, the two goals Wolves conceded were poor. In both situations, Wolves had all three of their centre-backs in the box to defend against crosses, but none of them went for the ball or kept track of their men.

​This is an area Everton can exploit. Because Wolves rely on narrow attacks and advanced wing-backs, the flanks are left open, so working the ball wide and delivering crosses could prove useful.

​Their back three also stay quite high up the pitch, so through balls in behind on counterattacks are another vulnerability.

​Going Forward

​Last year, Wolves played some silky football at times. However, much of their attacking success hinged on the performances of Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait Nouri, who both left the club this summer for Manchester United and Manchester City, respectively.

​In their 3-4-2-1 formation, Wolves keep the two behind the striker quite narrow, aiming to get them on the ball in the half-spaces between centre and full-backs. This is where Cunha thrived for them last year, scoring 15 Premier League goals.

​The width in this formation comes from the wing-backs making runs up the flank, which is where Rayan Ait Nouri did his best work, leading the team with seven assists.

​Without these two, they’ve lost quite a bit of their attacking threat. They’re relying heavily on striker Jorgen Strand Larsen, who struggled in the first two matches. He was also the subject of rejected bids from Newcastle this week, but came off the bench on Wednesday to score twice.

​Strand Larsen is an old-school centre forward. The 6’4 Norwegian likes regular service into the box, either to feet or on his head. He’s got great finishing ability and doesn’t need more than a touch to set himself up with an effort on goal. But if he’s marked well, he can drift out of games.

​Against West Ham and Bournemouth, they created their best chances when he combined with one of the two attacking midfielders, who then played the ball out wide while Strand Larsen peeled off runs into the box, aiming to find space to receive a cross.

​This didn’t lead to goals against Bournemouth, but against West Ham, it did, partly due to the performances of two of their new signings, attacking midfielder Jhon Arias and right wing-back Jackson Tchatchoua.

​For Everton, James Tarkowski and Michael Keane need to stay tight to Strand Larsen, but not let him draw them out of the box too far.

​The wingers will also be crucial; they’ll need to get back and help support the full-backs, because if they don’t, and the full-backs get pulled out to defend the cross, they’ll leave space behind for the attacking midfielders to run into.

​It will be interesting to see how David Moyes sets up his team against Wolves after some shaky defensive moments against Brighton.

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