Wolves vs Chelsea tips and predictions: Chelsea to face stern test at Molineux

Chelsea's Cole Palmer

Chelsea go to Wolves in a rare Christmas Eve fixture (1300 GMT), where the home side will be looking to add to their list of big scalps this season.

It's the first Premier League fixture on Christmas Eve in 28 years and it's a good ol' festive mid-table battle between the unpredictable Chelsea and Gary O'Neil's surprise package Wolves.

Following Julen Lopategui's departure on the eve of this season, everyone was predicting the men from the West Midlands to be heading to the departure lounge come May, but Gary O'Neil's team have been one of the league's surprise packages this season.

Having picked up wins against Tottenham and Manchester City earlier this season, O'Neil's men are not to be underestimated.

Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea have been in erratic form recently and coming off the back of their Carabao Cup victory against Newcastle United, albeit via the lottery of a penalty shootout, they will be full of confidence.

However, their league performances have been like picking a chocolate out of the Christmas Celebrations tub- sometimes you get the underwhelming Bounty, sometimes you get the thrill of Maltesers- you simply don't know which Chelsea will turn up.

From a second-half capitulation at Newcastle to the thrilling 4-4 against Man City, there's been a variety of Chelsea performances this season, but the 2-0 victory over Sheffield United last weekend was a return to normality for Pochettino's men and they would like that trend to continue here.

O'Neil's men stand in their way and despite their poor performance at West Ham last time out, they should provide Pochettino's troops with a sterner test than the Blades gave them.

Wolves have been making Molineux a fortress recently, as they are unbeaten in their last six home games, a run which includes the victories over Man City and Tottenham along with creditable draws against Newcastle and Aston Villa.

In those six games, Wolves have been able to rely on the dependable Hwang Hee-Chan, who scored in four of those games and is worth a look at in the goalscorers market.

Chelsea's away form was up there with the title contenders at the start of the season, but they have lost their last three on the road, scoring just twice and conceding eight times in that run.

The Blues can rely on Cole Palmer at the top of the pitch though, he is currently averaging one goal involvement per 108 minutes this season and could add to that tally on Sunday.

This game should bring goals too, as Wolves have only kept two clean sheets this season while the Blues have been shaky at the back, conceding two or more goals on seven seperate occasions this season.

Both sides will be looking to add some consistency to their season, but given the closeness of the two this season, the draw is worth a punt.

Team news:

Jonny has been ruled out for Wolves, but Jose Sa and Nelson Semedo could return for Wolves as they face late fitness tests.

Wolves hope to have Pedro Neto back in the matchday squad following a groin injury that he picked up in October.

Trevoh Chalobah, Lesley Ugochukwu, Carney Chukwuemeka, Romeo Lavia, Ben Chilwell, Robert Sanchez, Reece James, Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana are all ruled out for Chelsea.

Enzo Fernandez and Levi Colwill are being assesed ahead of the game after coming off early in the Carabao Cup win over Newcastle.