Preview: Leeds home

Wolves face Leeds United this Saturday, looking to get revenge for an opening day defeat at Elland Road. Dean Saunders is still looking for his first win in charge, though last week's performance against Leicester will give him hope that he's getting things right.

Becchio puts Leeds 1-0 up against Wolves on the opening day

What Saunders won't want is a repeat of the opening day, when Wolves lost 1-0 at Elland Road and, in all honesty, failed to really turn up until the last 20 minutes. On that day, a Luciano Becchio diving header saw United claim all 3 points. Games between the two sides have, recently, been low-scoring affairs. 8 of the last 10 meetings between the two sides have seen less than 2 goals scored in them. Indeed the only time in recent years that fans of the two sides have seen goals aplenty is in the 2003/04 Premiership season, with Wolves enjoying a 3-1 win at Molineux, before Leeds got revenge by thrashing Wolves 4-1 at Elland Road. Our last Molineux meeting with the Whites was in Mick McCarthy's first season - a Michael Kightly winner coming with 15 minutes left. That season Leeds were relegated to League 1 while Wolves sneaked into the play-offs. The irony is that the roles are totally reversed this time, with play-off chasing Leeds coming to a Wolves side needing a win to guarantee staying out of the bottom 3 of the Championship. Should Neil Warnock's side win tomorrow, they will enjoy their first double over Wolves in 29 years.

Huddersfield was a rare away success for Leeds, winning 4-2

Whilst Dean Saunders appears safe in his job - despite failing to improve Wolves in his first month - Neil Warnock's job (if some quarters are to be believed) is greatly under threat, despite his side sitting just 6 points off the play-offs (albeit in 12th place). Whilst Wolves' transfer deadline day was dead in the water, Leeds suffered a huge blow by losing 19-goal top scorer Becchio to Norwich - though this was softened by the arrival of Steve Morison in the other direction. They have also added Wolves target Stephen Warnock (no relation to Neil, for those who are curious) to the ranks from Aston Villa. Both are poised to make their debuts for the Whites, who may be missing Ross McCormack through illness - the Scotland striker pulling out of the midweek Internationals. Leeds' record on the road in recent games is appalling really. They've lost their last 4 away League matches, stretching back to the start of December when they beat Huddersfield 4-2. They have had success on the road in the FA Cup however, winning 2-1 just down the M6 at St Andrews. They have, however, only won 3 away games in the League all season, and have only picked up 12 points away from Elland Road (only Bolton and Bristol have worse away records). It is worth noting though that those 3 away wins have all come against sides currently in the bottom 8 of the Championship - despite losing 2-0 at Barnsley in the middle of January. They are also on the longest run without a draw - stretching back 15 Championship games. Their performances have picked up in recent weeks, as they followed up a deserved 2-1 home win over Spurs in the FA Cup by dominating at home to Cardiff - although they were extremely unlucky to lose 1-0 to the table-toppers.

Jez Moxey: More spin than a washing machine (picture Birmingham Mail)

This is, potentially, the biggest weekend of the season for Wolves. Should they lose to Leeds, and Barnsley nick a win away at Middlesbrough, then the Molineux side will find themselves in the bottom 3 of the Championship for the first time (ignoring alphabetical order at the start of the season) since September 28th 1999, when a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace saw Colin Lee's side in the Division One relegation zone. Despite this weeks' "apology" from Jez Moxey, the fans are still not happy and won't buy into any excuses from the men at the top. This is the time of actions, not words. Wolves need something to get themselves out of this dire mess. Fans have had enough and want to know why we didn't invest in the team in January despite clearly having funds from the Summer sales. They want to know why the mantra of "we are not in debt, not a selling club and do not need to sell our best players" has seen our 3 best players leave, and us hastily trying to reduce the wage bill by letting players go for free. All this in the short space of 6 months. It has seemed, in recent weeks, as if the club are preparing for life in League 1. Dean Saunders came in and made clear he had "3 or 4 Premiership players" as his targets. That then changed to "we won't sign anyone, but will see if the loan market produces anyone". Of course, with a day to go until the loan market opens, we are now being treated to "this squad is good enough to keep us up". Every time, the stance of the club and manager changes. Reading between the lines, it's becoming increasingly clear that Saunders - even if he is trying to bring players in - is merely a 'yes man' and is unable to bring the players he wants to club by our overly-tight Chairman and CEO. For a club that, if you look at the facts and figures, must be one of the richest clubs outside the top flight, that is simply unacceptable. Yet for some reason, the club continue to treat us like gullible mugs and proclaim that money is tight. It simply does not add up and, if we lose tomorrow, there is sure to be a backlash from fans wanting to know just where the money is disappearing to. This club cannot afford another relegation, and yet it seems that is just where we are headed at this time.

Danny Batth: Step-up was a long time coming

As for on the field, Wolves still find themselves winless in 7 games - although there are positives to take from our recent showing against Leicester. Despite being surrounded by 3 inept 'defenders', young Danny Batth stepped up in place of Roger Johnson and produced a solid, impressive performance - something this blogger has been saying would happen for months now. Wolves did look decent going forward in the new 4-5-1 system, although Ebanks-Blake looked isolated at times and missed 2 golden opportunities at the death. Slawomir Peszko looks to be in line for another home start after making a difference as a late substitute at the King Power Stadium. Dave Edwards could make a welcome return to the team - potentially in place of Jamie O'Hara who has looked off the pace in the last 3 games. The much-maligned Christophe Berra is set to make his 300th career appearance, and he will want to make it a game to remember for the right reasons.

This will be a tough game - particularly with Leeds' tails high after impressing against Spurs and Cardiff. With Wolves the way they are at the moment, it's hard to see where the next win will come from. I certainly cannot see it coming at Molineux tomorrow anyway.

Prediction: Wolves 0-2 Leeds