Wolves Defender Matt Doherty has credited Vorror Pereira's MAN management skills for their beautiful end of the season, while they are preparing to welcome Brighton in Molineux on Saturday.
Wolves won six consecutive games before they traveled to the Etihad Stadium last week to be confronted with Manchester City, to pull away from the relegation zone and climb to the 13th in the table.
They were beaten 1-0 on the side of Pep Guardiola, where Kevin De Bruyne scored the only goal of the game, although Rayan Ait-Nouri and Matheus Cunha both hit the woodwork when the Pereira team gave a good report of themselves.
Doherty remembered the media channels of the club: “We had the first bouncing of Vitor when he came in, but then we lost four games in a row, then we lost the Liverpool and the Fulham matches.
“So we lost a few games in a row, but he just kept the conviction there that really kept us up.
“Different managers bring different things, and he held our head up, we didn't let them fall at all and we managed to turn it around.
“We were of course able to turn it around in an incredible way in the last six or seven games, so we can be proud of what we have done in the second half of the season.”
The thoughts of the boss after defeat on @mancity.
– Wolves (@Wolves) May 2, 2025
In the meantime, Brighton remains locked up in a fight to finish eighth, which would probably mean the Europa Conference League qualification, alongside Bournemouth, Brentford and Fulham.
They took 1-1 with Newcastle United the last time-out, with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen made four saves.
Coach Fabian Hurzeler recently said that Verbruggen could become one of the best keepers in the world, but the Dutch international keeps his feet on the ground.
“I don't really look at the news, but it is nice to hear of course, I appreciate the confidence that he puts in me,” said Verbruggen after Sunday's game.
“I think I have already learned a lot from him this season, but I know my potential, I know my quality.
“I also know that I am far away from what I can be, so I just have to keep my head down and work hard and just try to become the best version of me and where that ends, we will see.”
Players to watch
Wolves-Rayan Ait-Nouri
Ait-Nouri has been directly involved in more goals than any other defender in the Premier League this season (11-four goals, seven assists).
He is the only Wolves defender who has been involved in 10 or more goals in a single campaign in the competition, and he will be determined to go better after touching the woodwork in the Etihad last week.
Brighton – Danny Welbeck
Joao Pedro is the top scorer of Brighton in the Premier League this season with 10 goals, closely followed by Welbeck and Kaoru Mitoma on nine each.
Only in 1980-81 (Mick Robinson and Gordon Smith) and 1981-82 (Andy Ritchie and Robinson) had two players reach double digits in a top campaign.
With Joao Pedro still suspended for this, Welbeck – that five Premier League objectives has versus Wolves – could have the responsibility to lead the border.
Match forecast – Draw
Brighton is unbeaten in their last six Premier League matches against Wolves (W4 D2) and scored 18 goals during this run.
And after having only lost one of their 11 home competition matches against Brighton between 1991 and 2021 (W3 D7), Wolves have now lost each of their last three against the seagulls in Molineux.
The men of Pereira, however, have won each of their last three Premier League matches, as much as in their previous 15 in advance (D2 L10). They last won four in a row in Molineux in May 2023.
This season they scored 51 goals in the Premier League, their joint campaign together with 2019-2020. They scored more in the top flight in 1979-80 (58) for the last time.
In what a competitive game should be, entertainment can be on the cards. Wolves (62 goals admitted from 439 Schoten) and Brighton (56/395) have admitted this season from a higher part of their shots than all other teams in the Premier League (14%).
Moreover, no team has had more different goal scorers in the Premier League this season than Brighton (excluding own goals), with their 16 unique scorers their most in every campaign.
Opta wins probability
Wolves – 34.2%
Brighton – 39%
Drawing – 26.8%