Wolves head on the road for the first time in 2026/27 on Saturday as Cesar Peixoto’s side look to build on their unbeaten start to the new campaign when they travel to Preston North End.
Roll call
The opening game of the Championship season against Blackburn Rovers last weekend saw Wolves endure two major injury blows, with Kieran Trippier and Yerson Mosquera both suffering injuries which will keep them our for a spell on the sidelines, while Hugo Bueno missed the game with a minor injury, and could be back in contention. Peixoto confirmed Jose Sa will be starting on Saturday afternoon after Dan Bentley’s move to Coventry City, while it’s yet to be seen whether new signing Jordan James will be fit enough to go straight into the squad, or if Raul Jimenez will get the nod up front after coming off the bench to score the equaliser last week.
Jusuf Erabi is in contention for a start after scoring both of Preston’s goals from off the bench so far this season and Andrija Vukcevic also came on to play his part in the consolation against Bolton Wanderers last weekend, while new signings Harry Clarke and Leo Leroy could be pushing for a place in the side after the latter came off the bench for the final half hour of the opening game. Lewis Gibson remains on the sidelines following the red card he received against Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup two weeks ago.
Settling in 🤝 pic.twitter.com/aBlr97gUWB
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 20, 2026
The form guide
Wolves are so far two games unbeaten heading into the 2026/27 season, following up a 3-0 Carabao Cup victory over Port Vale at Molineux – which saw goals from Adam Armstrong, Fer Lopez and Yerson Moqsuera – with a Championship opening day draw at home to Blackburn. The 2-2 result last time out saw the Old Gold take the lead through Marshall Munetsi, before goals either side of half time put the visitors ahead, but a late Raul Jimenez equaliser from the penalty spot ensured Wolves would take a point from their opening league outing.
Preston also enjoyed a winning start to their season in the Carabao Cup, as despite playing 70 minutes with 10 men following Lewis Gibson’s red card, Jusuf Erabi’s equaliser in the third minute of added time sent the game to penalties, which the hosts came out on top of 4-3 at Deepdale. However, they weren’t able to make it another win in their first league game of the season last weekend, as Erabi’s late goal was just consolation this time following Bolton’s two first half strikes.
The past with Preston
Wolves travelled to Deepdale early in the 2008/09 season, as a Mick McCarthy-led side moved clear at the top of the Championship standings thanks to Chris Iwelumo’s hat-trick – before the Scottish striker saw red late on. Iwelumo opened the scoring with a spectacular overhead kick before making it 2-0 from close range just after half-time and completing his hat-trick from the penalty spot with just under 20 minutes to go. However, there was plenty of late drama as he received his marching orders for an alleged headbutt on Sean St Ledger before McCarthy and goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey were also all dismissed before the time was out, leading to Neil Mellor scoring Preston’s consolation from the spot against Richard Stearman, with the defender forced to don the goalkeeper gloves.
After the match, McCarthy said: “It was a strange afternoon for Chris. He played exceptionally well, scored a hat-trick and got the match ball, and then got sent off! St Ledger has been in to see the referee to say that nothing happened and you can’t get a better witness than that. All credit to him, he’s been up against a player who's given him a real battle and has scored a hat-trick and yet he’s still gone in to see the referee.”
