Millwall v Wolves Match Preview [LIVE]

Boxing day brings the next round of yuletide footballing festivities with a 1 pm kick off time to get the second half of the season underway. Nuno’s wolf pack travel south to The Den to face Neil Harris’ Lions.

After their 1-0 home win against Ipswich on Saturday, Wolves still top the table with 54 points which interestingly is one point more than they had at the same time in 2008 before achieving promotion to the Premiership at the end of that season.
Another interesting stat is that the season Reading achieved promotion to the Premiership with a record points haul of 106 (2005-2006 season) at the halfway point of the season they had 56 points. It’s a long way to go yet but Nuno’s men are certainly looking a good bet for automatic promotion and may be in with a shout to equal or even exceed that Reading record!

More importantly though, Wolves have a 7 points lead over second placed Cardiff, are 10 points in front of 3rd placed Derby and 17 points ahead of 7th placed Sheffield United

Having won the League 1 playoff final in May, Millwall, back in the Championship, have very different aspirations to Wolves. Like all newly promoted sides, the first priority for Neil Harris is to get his team settled above the relegation zone and keep them there. Going into this game Millwall are just 7 points clear and with 5 points from their last 5 games, their current form is decidedly average. Recent successes include home wins against Sheffield United and Middlesborough and a draw at Villa Park. However, Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Derby County has brought them down to earth again. With 2 ex-Wolves players in their midfield, both of whom have scored goals recently, the usual dangers are clear to see but if Ruben Neves and Romain Saiss are on form, the Millwall midfield are unlikely to get much time on the ball.

It is to be hoped that Nuno has spent time on the training ground preparing his players to counteract the ‘in your face’ football that they have struggled with at times this season. There is no more intimidating place in the league to visit than The Den and there is no more aggressive team to face than Millwall (on and off the ball). If they are well prepared Wolves should come away with 3 points. If they still have not worked out a way to play around the rough stuff they could well end up as another Millwall scalp.

Gem’s prediction: 0-3