Key events
The first email is from Peter Oh.: “Happy twelfth day of Christmas! Speaking of a partridge in a pear tree, did you know that the Portuguese word for pear tree is pereira? “This bodes well for Wolves fans hoping for one last Christmas present.”
Julen Lopetegui, former Wolves coach He seems to be in trouble at West Ham.
The Wolves' 'defence' tonight is certainly… different. There are no natural power plants at all. Doherty, Bueno, Ait Nouri and Pedro Lima are full-backs or full-backs.
Wolves manager Vitor Pereira spoke tonight about his form in front of the cameras:
Sometimes it is a hybrid system. Sometimes we play with four defenders and other times with three defenders. I don't want to play with three centre-backs. I want to play with three defenders. It's different. Sometimes we press higher with our wingers.
Let's analyze those teams a little.
Wolves have changed a lot! Pedro Lima gets his first division debut (he has played twice in the League Cup this season), while Rodrigo Gomes, Jorgen Strand Larsen, Gonçalo Guedes and Tommy Doyle return to the eleven. Matheus Cunha is a big mistake, he is suspended. It is not immediately clear who the captain is, nor have Wolves announced it on their social media channels.
Murillo and Callum Hudson-Odoi return for the visitors, after missing the win against Everton through injury. A big advantage for Nuno.
Team news!
Wolves: José Sa, Doherty, Bueno, Ait Nouri, Pedro Lima, Doyle, Joao Gomes, Rodrigo Gomes, Goncalo Guedes, Hwang, Larsen.
Substitutes: Johnstone, Lemina, Sarabia, Forbs, Bellegarde, Meupiyou, Cundle, Pond, Okoduwa.
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Domínguez, Anderson, Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Wood.
Substitutes: Carlos Miguel, Morato, Awoniyi, Ward-Prowse, Alex, Jota Silva, Yates, Sosa, Boly.
Referee: Peter Bankes
Preamble
It may not be a surprise to know that there are more Portuguese coaches (four) in the first division than the English (three). Two of them, Vítor Pereira and Nuno Espírito Santo, face each other today; the latter returns to the club and the city he called home between 2017 and 2021.
Wolves under Nuno were brilliant: promoted from the Championship in his first season, then achieving consecutive seventh-place finishes in his first two seasons in the top flight before a mid-table campaign completed his time in the Midlands . Nuno bought well, mainly compatriots such as Diogo Jota, Rúben Neves, João Moutinho, Rui Patrício, as well as Raúl Jiménez (although from the Portuguese Benfica), Adama Traoré (from Middlesbrough) and Max Kilman (from Maidenhead United, which does not belong to the league). With that squad, plus academy graduate Morgan Gibbs-White, it's easy to see why Wolves qualified for the Europa League.
Nuno and his Portuguese entourage created an identity and legacy that survives in the Wolves squad today. The number of Portuguese speakers in the first team is now in double figures (including four Brazilians), while new coach Pereira and six Portuguese staff add to the tally. Wolverhampton has changed too, with Portuguese restaurants and cafes springing up all over the city (although I'm sorry to report that the cafe, Aromas of Portugal, which featured heavily in our 2018 interview with Jota y Neves is already closed).
Anyway, welcome home, Nuno, sort of. It remains to be seen what kind of reception the top-four chasing coach will have against relegation-threatened Molineux, but it should be lively and (very Portuguese).
Kick off: 20:00 GMT.
