Pyunik Yerevan vs Wolverhampton Predictions

Wolves continue their first European campaign in 39-years as they make the long trip to Pyunik on Thursday. The Premier League side face a 6370 mile round trip in this first leg. That’s coming just days before they meet Leicester, so the fixture list is starting to get tricky for Wolves. They come into this clash aiming to put things to bed in the away trip, as they chase a spot in the group stage.

Wolves have been handed a bit of a blow, they face a tricky meeting with Torino in the playoff round if both sides win their respective ties. That’s going to test Wolves, but we doubt this week’s trip will. They breezed past Crusaders in the last round and the English outfit are heavy favourites to secure a first-leg victory. There’s a huge gulf between these two, so the main thing will be how Wolves deal with the huge trip. As a side with limited European experience and on the back of a preseason visit to the far east, it could hit them.

Pyunik aren’t a side with a storied European history, but they are a team who have made the most of home advantage over the years. They know how tough it is for sides to make it to Armenia, so they’ve used their home legs to their advantage. Playing at home is unlikely to see them claim a famous win over Wolves, but the hosts have managed to score in nine of their last 10 home games in the Europa League.

Pyunik have scored five times in two home games in this competition this summer. However, Wolves have some impressive talent going forward and they put that on show in their 6-1 aggregate success over Crusaders. They should look to get forward and score goals, but we can see their side getting caught out at the back given the length of this trip. With four of Pyunik’s last five European ties seeing both teams score, we think that BTTS is well priced in this clash.

Up front, we could see some rare rotation from Nuno Espirito Santo. His side made the top seven with a consistent line-up last season, but the Europa League brings the need for changes. With the start of the new Premier League season just days away, Wolves are going to need to tinker a little. They already have concerns over forward Raul Jimenez, who picked up an injury against Crusaders. That opens up a place for new £16millino signing Patrick Cutrone. Not only does he need a game, but the forward also has a brilliant European record. He has 10 Europa League goals in just 18 appearances, which should mark him out as a starter this week. Given that record, we see great value in backing a goal from their new forward.