MANCHESTER, England (AP) — The numbers just keep on getting worse for Wolverhampton Wanderers in a season that is threatening to set a new low inPremier Leaguehistory.
Heading into the 16th round of the campaign Wolves are still winless. Sitting bottom of the standings, relegation to the Championship looks inevitable and the job for recently hired coach Rob Edwards now appears to be a case of damage limitation.
Unwanted records are in sight and on Saturday Wolves travel to first-place Arsenal.
With just two points from 15 games so far Wolves are tracking toward a record-low points tally of five if they maintain that form for the rest of the season. That's less than half the lowest-ever Premier League total of 11 points by Derby County in the 2007-8 campaign.
"We've got to try to improve. We've got to try to find that belief," said Edwards this week, but a4-1 home loss to Manchester Unitedon Monday saw fans protest against the club's Chinese owners Fosun.
Some fans boycotted the first 15 minutes of the game and protested outside the stadium. There were further protests during the match as Wolves fell to an eighth-straight league loss.
The last win in the league was in April against a Leicester team on course for relegation. That was at the end of a six-game winning streak that helped Wolves avoid the drop last term, but it has been bad news ever since, with coachVitor Pereira firedin November and Edwards so far failing to inspire a turnaround.
But Wolves are still some way from the longest losing run in Premier League history. According to statistician Opta, Sunderland lost 20 games in succession — spanning two campaigns.
A streak of 15-straight losses in the 2002-3 campaign was the most in a single season and Sunderland went on to lose another five games when it return to the top flight in 2005.
Wolves appear to be paying the price for a talent drain in recent years, which has seen a series of top players sold.
Pedro Neto left for Chelsea last year. That was followed by the sales of Rayan Ait-Nouri to Manchester City and Matheus Cunha to Manchester United in the last transfer window. Matheus Nunes (City), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest) and Ruben Neves (Al-Hilal) have been other high profile departures to weaken a team that had back-to-back seventh-place finishes in 2019 and 2020.
While Derby's record has stood for the best part of 20 years, Wolves' troubles point to a recent trend in England's top flight.
Southampton was relegated last year with the second worst points total of 12 points. It took an unlikely draw against Man City in the third to last game of the season to avoid equaling Derby's total.
Sheffield United has the fourth-lowest points total — 16 — recorded in the 23-24 campaign.
Derby also has the record fewest wins in a Premier League season, with just one in that 2007-8 campaign.
Wolves are currently 13 points adrift of safety with a goal difference of -25, but defender Emmanuel Agbadou insisted this week: "we're not going to give up."
"We're going to try to give everything to at least finish our season well," he said.
Key matchups
Sunderland hosts Newcastle in a North East derby on Sunday and Man City's trip to Crystal Palace will be a test for Pep Guardiola's team on the back of Wednesday's win at Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Palace beat City in last season's FA Cup final.
Liverpool hosts Brighton on Saturday. The defending champion is trying to get its season back on track after a run of just two wins in its last 10 league games.
Players to watch
Whether Mohamed Salah is on the field, on the bench or in the stands — focus will be on him when Liverpool plays Brighton at Anfield.
The Liverpool icon has cast doubt over his future after claiming he'd been"thrown under the bus"by the club. Salah had been dropped from the team for three-straight games and responded with an explosive interview following last week's 3-3 draw with Leeds.
"I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame," he said.
He was then dropped from the squad all together for Liverpool's Champions League match with Inter Milan on Tuesday, with coach Arne Slot saying he did not knowif Salah would play again for the club.
Salah heads off to the Africa Cup of Nations next week and if left out of Liverpool's squad again, it will only raise further doubts about his Anfield future.
Out of action
Declan Rice missed Arsenal's Champions League game against Brugge because of illness. William Saliba is still to return after an unspecified injury and Leandro Trossard also missed Brugge because of what was described as a knock. Jurrien Timber is a doubt.
Palace is without Daniel Munoz, who needs surgery on a knee injury and Jean-Philippe Mateta was left out of Thursday's UEFA Conference League match against Shelbourne because he needed a rest.
Chelsea striker Liam Delap has a shoulder injury and Liverpool's Cody Gakpo is out for a few weeks because of an unspecified injury, Slot said.
Off the field
Liverpool fans showed their support for Slot in Milan following the fallout with Salah. Back at Anfield, it will be telling how the home crowd react on Saturday.
Salah said last week that he would say goodbye to fans before heading to the Africa Cup of Nations.
Time will tell if it is a final farewell before leaving the club, with teams in Saudi Arabia reportedly ready to make a move in the January window.
James Robson is athttps://x.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer:https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
