OPINION
Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo would be wise to make as many as seven changes to his starting line up for Sunday’s FA Cup trip to Bristol City.
Wolves have a genuine chance of winning the competition this season, but Nuno has the players to be able to make alterations and still come out on top against Championship opposition.
With that said, Rui Patricio, Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Leander Dendoncker, Jonny Castro Otto, Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota should all drop out.
In their place, John Ruddy, Romain Saiss, Morgan Gibbs-White, Ruben Vinagre, Helder Costa, Ivan Cavaleiro and Adama Traore. Those seven switches should be enough to see Wolves dispatch the hosts pretty comfortably at Ashton Gate.
Ruddy has been the de facto cup goalkeeper for Wolves this season and, despite a rough couple of games in the last round against Shrewsbury Town, he deserves another shot here. The centre backs have, by and large, remained in place all campaign and there’s no reason for that to change on Sunday.
Nuno should consider making a slight formation change, as he did against the Shrews, by moving from a 3-5-2 to a 3-4-3. Matt Doherty should keep his place at right wing back, but Ruben Vinagre must replace Jonny on the opposite flank.
In central midfield, Romain Saiss and Morgan Gibbs-White can expect to start another cup clash. Both players have performed pretty well in the competition so far and deserve more first team action.
Up front, a trio of Costa, Cavaleiro and Traore. Jota and Jimenez could both do with a rest, leaving the attacking burden with three players who will be desperate to make an impact here.