Wolves v Bournemouth: Premier League – live!

74 min: Jiménez’s goal seems to have sapped Bournemouth of all of the confidence they had garnered after a decent showing for the best part of an hour. None of the three substitutes – Solanke, Harry Wilson or Danjuma – have had a sniff.

72 min: That’s Traoré last act – he is replaced by Leander Dendoncker. That’s Nuno just using a bit of common sense.

71 min: Adama Traoré takes exception to a good challenge by Adam Smith and the pair indulge in a little handbags. They square up before team-mates get involved. It certainly takes a brave man to even consider sizing up Traoré …

69 min: A glimmer of good news for Bournemouth, for Newcastle have just taken the lead against Aston Villa, another team desperately trying to avoid the drop:

68 min: “With empty stadiums I think Premier League results will become very predictable,” worries Andy O’Shaughnessy on email. “I fear for the smaller cheaper squads. It will help the expensive sides like [Man] Utd.” Do keep the emails and tweets coming. We’re in for a big 20 minutes at both ends of the table.

66 min: Jiménez’s goal was the first shot on target in this game, which says a lot, really. Brooks, Stanislas and Lerma depart, with Harry Wilson, Solanke and Danjuma all coming on, and then off again, because it’s the drinks break …

65 min: Bournemouth are readying a triple substitution. Harry Wilson, Dominic Solanke and Arnaut Danjuma are poised to enter …

61 min: Pedro Neto replaces Diogo Jota.

Adama Traoré races to the byline and Jiménez leaps high at the back post to power a header back across goal beyond Aaron Ramsdale. That’s Jiménez’s 15 goal of the season and his fourth goal in as many matches against Bournemouth. That deadly Traoré-Jiménez combination comes up trumps again for Wolves, who, until a moment ago, had not had an awful lot to get excited about. It was an exquisite cross by the winger, who kept a couple of Bournemouth defenders at arm’s length, and a brilliant no-nonsense header for the finish. It is the 10th Premier League goal the pair have linked up for this season.

59 min: Lewis Cook upends Jonny, who has been busy down the left for Wolves. They switch play …

56 min: Gosling buys a foul out of Moutinho on halfway to earn Bournemouth a little respite. Wolves counter-attacked at speed after Lewis Cook lost out high up the pitch but the midfielder did brilliantly to get back into position and the visitors clear their lines. Before that, a Wolves error almost presented Wilson with a half-chance.

54 min: Wolves are getting Adama Traoré more and more involved. Matt Doherty has just ghosted into the box but the cross from the left is a little overcooked. It feels a big 10 minutes for Bournemouth. Elsewhere, Everton lead Norwich at Carrow Road:

53 min: Diogo Jota works an opening after good work by Jonny and unleashes a drive at goal from an acute angle. Ramsdale, taking no risks, guides it over. The resulting corner is disappointing but Wolves’ pressure is building.

50 min: Raúl Jiménez clears the corner at the front post. That Billing substitution seemed to be as the result of an injury, which is a blow given the midfielder only returned to the starting lineup this evening having missed out last weekend.

49 min: Bournemouth win a corner! Brilliant little nutmeg by Lewis Cook in midfield, who spreads the ball wide to Jack Stacey, the marauding full-back. He bombs past Jonny, tries to seek out a cross but Wolves concede the corner. Before it’s taken, Philip Billing, who is moving a little gingerly, is replaced by Dan Gosling.

48 min: Jonny earns a free-kick out on the left flank after Jack Stacey lunges in but Ramsdale, rather comfortably, gathers it. Moments earlier, Adama Traoré came to life in the middle. Wolves, finally, seem to have woken.

The teams are out for the second half.

Premier League half-time scores

Manchester United 2-0 Sheffield United
Newcastle 0-0 Aston Villa
Norwich 0-0 Everton
Wolves 0-0 Bournemouth

All square at a sun-kissed Molineux.

45+3 min: Adama Traoré sends a piercing strike over the bar! The winger drives inside after seizing on an error by Stacey and feints to leave Aké in a spin before letting rip, but Traoré’s effort zooms over Aaron Ramsdale’s goal.

45+2 min: Neves shapes to try a worldie from 25 yards – but Lewis Cook gets across to block the Wolves midfielder’s shot before it even leaves his boot.

45+1 min: Junior Stanislas does brilliantly, filling in as an emergency left-back to put a stop to Adama Traoré raiding forward after Neves floats in a cross. Wolves are suddenly playing with a little more urgency but Bournemouth look comfortable.

44 min: Adama Traoré jets down the right beyond Junior Stanislas before sending in a high cross, which Jack Stacey expertly takes the sting out of at the back post. Bournemouth then build, with Brooks again involved; his flair spreads confidence.

40 min: Neves upends David Brooks, who goes to ground, but the winger who made his comeback after almost 12 months out with ankle injuries last weekend, appears good to go.

39 min: Bournemouth are stockpiling yellow cards; Callum Wilson is booked for inadvertently clattering Rui Patrício as he attempts to close down the Wolves goalkeeper. And that booking means Wilson will miss Bournemouth’s matches against Newcastle and Manchester United through suspension. A gentle reminder that Jefferson Lerma is also a booking away from a two-match ban.

37 min: João Moutinho whips in a delicious free-kick towards the six-yard box, luring Aaron Ramsdale out of the Bournemouth goal and a flurry of defenders spin towards the ball in desperation. Matt Doherty cannot get there to nod it goalwards and Bournemouth hack it clear. Wolves are just beginning to show their hand.

36 min: Wolves are upping the ante. Another booking for Bournemouth, with Steve Cook, the captain, chopping down Diogo Jota on the edge of the box. That brings another free-kick for Wolves, who are gathering momentum …

34 min: Bournemouth work a brilliant opening – but Billing’s effort is a little powder-puff! It was slick interchange down the right flank, with Lewis Cook and Jack Stacey combining before laying off Billing on the edge of the 18-yard box. But then Wolves burst forward at breakneck speed through, you’ve guessed it, Adama Traoré, who brushes off a handful of challenges, eats up 40 yards of ground before David Brooks weighs in with a little reducer. Neves stands over it a good 30 yards out …

31 min: Adama Traoré has been quiet so far but Adam Smith has just made another important invention to nick the ball away from the Wolves winger. Bournemouth seem to be doubling up on him and Jonny down the opposite flank.

28 min: Stanislas sends it in but it’s not the best delivery. But, Bournemouth are still deep in the Wolves half. They’re enjoying plenty of possession. Billing and Callum Wilson are having a bit of a tit-for-tat, presumably over the lack of service.

27 min: Callum Wilson does well with his back to goal, earning a free-kick 25 yards out after Romain Saïss is guilty of being a little overzealous and gets a booking for a crude challenge. Junior Stanislas and David Brooks are stood over it, wide on the right …

25 min: Jonny surges down the left flank but Jack Stacey and Brooks double up on the Wolves wing-back. Good defending.

23 min: Drinks break! Eddie Howe seems to be rallying the troops. The Wolves dugout, and Nuno Espírito Santo, look pretty calm.

22 min: Bournemouth are seeing plenty of the ball, but lone striker Callum Wilson is going to have to do something special to get the better of not one but three Wolves centre-backs. They may be in short supply on either team but at least referee Michael Oliver is still rocking a healthy lockdown haircut, sideburns and all.

18 min: Bournemouth muster another corner after Romain Saïss is forced to clear a floated David Brooks free-kick, but it comes to nothing. Rui Patrício wellies it down the other end in search of Diogo Jota, who is a willing runner. It’s a straight fight between him and Adam Smith but the Bournemouth defender does brilliantly to nip in and head the ball clear. As it happens, Jota is penalised for giving Smith a nudge on his way to ground.

15 min: Wolves fail to make the most of their first corner. It stemmed from a sloppy mistake by the returning Philip Billing on the edge of the Bournemouth box.

14 min: Rúben Neves takes aim but, unusually, it’s high, wide and handsome. Wolves do seem to be gradually getting into their stride. Elsewhere, Manchester United have taken the lead at Old Trafford:

12 min: Lerma has a pop from 25 yards, it smacks into a gold shirt and then the assistant referee raises his flag as Callum Wilson gives chase. The Molineux pitch is bathed in sunshine and, for now, the hosts seem happy keeping their powder dry.

9 min: A half-chance at best for Bournemouth but, nevertheless, it is another sniff of goal for the visitors; Jack Stacey gallivants down the right, plays in Brooks who whips a ball into the box for Callum Wilson, who cannot properly connect. Wolves are yet to truly get going, with Bournemouth doing all of the early pressing.

7 min: Eddie Howe said last weekend that David Brooks was inevitably a tad rusty and he’s just got caught by Jonny, who dispossessed the Bournemouth winger before trying to feed Raúl Jiménez. But the Wolves talisman cannot trap the ball on the edge of the box and Bournemouth get away with it.

5 min: Good news: Nathan Aké is back up and running. For a moment it looked as though he was going to have to come off.

4 min: From the resulting corner, Rui Patrício inadvertently catches Nathan Aké and the Bournemouth defender is grounded. It doesn’t look too good – and Eddie Howe, already without Joshua King owing to an ankle injury, is having a word down on the touchline, making sure his substitutes are raring to go – if called upon.

3 min: Stanislas slips in Philip Billing and Rui Patrício comes rampaging out of goal to smother. An encouraging start for Bournemouth, compared to Saturday anyway.

1 min: A nice, early email, courtesy of Tim Miller. “You pointed out it is Wolves’ 50th game of the season,” he begins. “That is our entire first-team squad. Of the nine substitutes, only Dendoncker, Neto and Vinagre have appeared regularly. The other six have three starts and eight sub appearances in the Premier League between them. Remarkable really.” Indeed. Do get in touch.

Lewis Cook kicks things off after the players take the knee.

Wolves are heading out of the tunnel, while Bournemouth, to maintain as much social distancing as possible, have already trudged out from a separate exit. The visitors are in their new home kit, a striking red-and-black Milan number. Here we go …

A few pre-match stats to get stuck into: Raúl Jiménez has scored on all three occasions he has faced Bournemouth; Eddie Howe’s side have earned just seven points from a possible 30 in 2020 so far – fewer than any other Premier League side.

A nice touch from Wolves, who have collated thousands of images of supporters to create a mosaic of some their players, including skipper Conor Coady and Rúben Neves, plus Nuno:

It is sweltering in the Black Country with kick-off around 30 minutes away. The players will be very grateful of the drinks breaks in either half. I know I will be. By the time the first drinks break came around on Saturday evening, Bournemouth already trailed by two goals. They cannot afford for that to happen again.

We have a bit of a MBM feast, you lucky things:

Bad news for Bournemouth: Adama Traoré returns to the starting lineup for Wolves and, not only that, but Joshua King is absent through injury after taking a whack against Crystal Palace. Jack Stacey or Adam Smith, depending on which wing Traoré spends his time, could be in for a long night. Philip Billing is in for Harry Wilson and Junior Stanislas replaces King but Bournemouth are otherwise unchanged. Leander Dendoncker drops to the bench for Wolves as Nuno just makes one change for the game at Molineux.

Wolves (3-4-3): Patrício; Saïss, Coady, Boly; Doherty, Neves, Moutinho, Jonny; Traoré, Jiménez, Jota

Subs: Ruddy, Vinagre, Neto, Kilman, Jordão, Dendoncker, Buur, Gibbs-White, Podence

Bournemouth (4-3-3): Ramsdale; Stacey, Aké, S Cook, Smith; Lerma, Billing, L Cook; Brooks, C Wilson, Stanislas

Subs: Boruc, Kelly, Rico, Solanke, H Wilson, Surman, Mepham, Danjuma

Referee: Michael Oliver
VAR: Martin Atkinson

This is biggie for both teams. Wolves can continue their push for another round of European football next season, while Bournemouth, fighting for points at the other end of the table, cannot afford to surrender another game as feebly as they did last weekend against Crystal Palace. Eddie Howe’s side could have done without at trip to Molineux to face a team that, since New Year’s Day, have only been beaten by Liverpool in the Premier League. Given Bournemouth’s dire away form, it is fair to say they face an uphill task. Nuno Espírito Santo’s skeleton squad have proved a tough nut to crack and have been relentless pretty much all season, despite this being their 50th game of a season that began almost 12 months ago – they are still fighting on two fronts, with the return leg of a last-16 tie against Olympiakos to come in August – and showed no let-up in victory at West Ham on Saturday. Raúl Jiménez is as good a striker as there is in the Premier League, while Adama Traoré has been scarily potent, combining his raw strength and speed with a devilish end product.

Kick-off: 6pm (BST)