Former Manchester City star Micah Richards has said that Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton have made meaningful progress over the past year but they may still struggle to make the push for the top six. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Richards said that Wolves have done a great job since returning to the top-flight, but they may struggle during the ongoing campaign with the additional pressure of Europa League games, should they reach the group stage.
He added that the west Midlands outfit have players, who were too good for the Championship but they will have a tough task of making the European qualification spots similar to Everton, he said: “I think Wolves have done a great job. I think the difficulty for them this season is going to be the Europa League. They will be playing a lot of Sunday’s then Thursday’s and it’ll be a lot of travelling. But I think they have been amazing.
“With the players, they have got, I think they want to be doing similar to what Everton are doing. They played the likes of Jota and Neves in the Championship, they were miles apart. Easily the best players in the Championship. They feel at home in the Premier League. I think there will be there or thereabouts, similar to Everton.”
Wolves have started the campaign with back-to-back draws over Leicester City and Manchester United, and that can be regarded as a decent beginning, considering they have been dealing with the European qualification alongside. Everton, on the hand, have fared much better with four points from the opening two league games but there are question marks whether they can replicate the form from the backend of the season.
The Toffees have attained an impressive tally of 10 clean sheets from the past 14 league games where they have beaten the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. They are scheduled to face Aston Villa during the forthcoming league encounter.
