Opposition Preview - Wolverhampton Wanderers

Blog written by ad_wilkin
Published: 25th September 2023 10:03

A Premier League team will return to Portman Road for the first time since Fulham paid a visit on 16th September 2020 in the second round of this competition.

Wolverhampton Wanderers come into Tuesday's Carabao Cup third-round tie sitting in 16th place in the Premier League following a summer of turmoil. Manager Juan Lopetegui chose not to renew his short-term contract due to financial issues which meant Wolves needed to bring in more money than they spent to keep within Financial Fair Play limits.

This resulted in Gary O’Neil coming in very close to the start of the season with a lot of transfer activity having already happened. O’Neil did a good job at Bournemouth last season and was perhaps hard done by and unlucky to not keep his job at Bournemouth with them choosing to go in a different direction.

The biggest sales have come in midfield with last year's starting midfield all leaving, Ruben Neves going to Saudi Arabia, Matheus Nunes joining Man City for big money and Joao Moutinho moving to Braga on a free.

Also out of the door went defenders Nathan Collins (Brentford) and Conor Coady (Leicester), strikers Diego Costa (Botafogo) and Raul Jiminez (Fulham) and pacy winger Adama Traore (Fulham). All of this uncertainty provides a backdrop that could give Town a good chance of progressing through this one.

As a Premier League team, Wolves have only played one game in the Carabao Cup, an impressive 5-0 win against Blackpool. They’ve had a tough start to the league season so far, only picking up one point as O’Neil tries to find his best team and formation. The cup has provided a much-needed break from a tough run of fixtures although they’ll be hurting coming into this one after a 1-1 draw with fellow relegation candidates Luton Town.

<h1>Goalkeepers </h1>

Wolves' number one has been Jose Sa for two seasons now and is going into his third. He’s kept 23 Premier League clean sheets since signing from Olympiacos, which in a Wolves team that have been mid-table is a very impressive record.

Sa likes to play out from the back but his attempt to launch a counter-attack against Liverpool went wrong and resulted in the Reds coming straight back down his end as Andy Robertson poked the ball past him.

Backing him up is Daniel Bentley. Bentley signed from Bristol City in January 2023 and has so far only made three appearances for Wolves. He knows the Championship well with 260 appearances in spells with Brentford and Bristol City. He kept a clean sheet against Blackpool and should provide stern opposition for Town in this one.

<h1>Defenders </h1>

O'Neil has lined up 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 in Premier League games so far but switched and went to a 3-5-2 against Blackpool in the last round, so the formation could be hard to pick.

First-choice right-back is Nelson Semedo who is now entering his fourth season with Wolves. He’s notched 108 appearances since signing from Barcelona where he was also a regular. His club form has seen him capped 27 times by Portugal and he’s one of Wolves' most consistent performers.

Rejoining the club this summer following his release by Atletico Madrid is Matt Doherty. The Irish international joined Tottenham in 2020 having started his career at Wolves, featuring in League One, Championship and Premier League games. Overall, Doherty has made 303 appearances for the club, scoring 30 goals.

He struggled a bit for game time at Tottenham and only featured twice for Atletico Madrid. His only game for Wolves so far this season has been in the first round of this competition where he scored two goals. The first a header on the counter-attack after breaking from deep to the far post and the second a left-footed finish having cut inside his winger into box and got on the end of the pull back. He’s one who’s likely to start against Town.

The versatile option in the squad is the two-footed Jonny Castro Otto. He can play on the right or the left and has now made 132 appearances for Wolves since joining in 2018. His first couple of seasons with Wolves he was indispensable but injury problems and more depth in the squad means that he hasn’t played quite as much.

Jonny has only made the Premier League squad once so far this season as an unused substitute against Everton and he’ll be another looking to make the most of his cup minutes to try and force his way into the team.

On the left-hand side, 22-year-old Algerian Rayan Ait-Nouri was given the opportunity to start the season as the first-choice left-back but has to share minutes in rotation with Hugo Bueno. He’s been at Wolves for three seasons now (one on loan and two permanent) and has always only played in about half of his side's games.

Ait-Nouri’s struggled in the league this season with his attributes being more suited to a wing-back role in a back five as opposed to a full back where he can be exposed defensively down that side.

Bueno has been with Wolves since he was 18 and largely rotated with Ait-Nouri in his breakthrough season last year. Still only 20, Bueno is a player that Wolves have high hopes for and that left-back role is a position where changes tend to be made to keep the freshness, so he usually gets some minutes.

He’s started one game so far this season in the 1-0 win over Everton and put in a solid performance. It’s likely that we’ll see both him and Ait Nouri at some stage in this one.

Moving on to the centre-backs and Wolves have stuck with the same pairing for all of their league games so far, possibly because of the lack of depth there. In Craig Dawson they have an experienced campaigner who knows the Premier League better than most, having notched up 225 Premier League appearances across spells at West Brom, Watford, West Ham and Wolves. His agent clearly likes the letter W.

Dawson is a consistent performer with a good injury record and despite his lack of pace he reads the game very well. He’s also a threat from corners as he can win headers in both boxes.

Alongside him is Max Kilman. If you don’t know he played futsal for England by now you must have been living in a hole as commentators mention it all the time. What this means is that he is very good with his feet, can play out from the back and also doesn’t mind dribbling out of his own half on occasion.

Kilman is naturally left-footed so provides a nice balance to that pairing. He was picked up by Wolves from non-league side Maidenhead United and has slowly worked his way into the team to a position where he is now captain.

His form has seen pundits and fans tipping him for an England call-up, which hasn’t quite materialised yet but at only 26 years of age he still has plenty of time.

The only other senior centre-back in the squad is Toti Gomes. The 24-year-old was in and out of the squad last season and this looks to be the case so far in this one as well. With Kilman and Dawson forming a solid partnership he could struggle to replace them.

Gomes is a player with a lot of promise and a good deputy and has made the recent Portugal squads, although he has yet to win a cap. He is also left-footed and can cover the left-back position if needed.

<h1>Central Midfield </h1>

The area where there has been the most turnover in this Wolves squad. Under O’Neil the midfield three has changed into a 4-4-2 with two central midfielders.

In the league so far these two have been Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes. Lemina first impressed in the Premier League in a spell at Southampton between 2017 and 2019 but fell out of favour and had spells at Galatasaray, Fulham (both loans) and Nice before ending up back in the Premier League with Wolves for an undisclosed fee.

He’s not as expressive as the players who have come before him but he is good at breaking up play and providing a platform for Wolves to build on.

His partner 22-year-old Joao Gomes signed for Wolves from Flamengo in January 2023 scoring on his debut against Southampton. Both him and Lemina tend to play very close together in the central role, pivoting off of each other and bringing the wide players into play.

Both of those midfielders were rotated out for the first cup game against Blackpool which gave an opportunity to 21-year-old Irishman Joe Hodge.

Hodge does have one Premier League start which came last December in a 2-1 win against Everton and has featured another five times as a subsititute in that season. He also has six appearances in cup competitions. An Ireland U21 international who has spent time at the Man City academy he will be looking to use this game to showcase his talents again.

The cup has also given the opportunity for Boubacar Traore to get more minutes. Wolves converted his loan to a permanent deal this summer in a £9.5-million move from Metz. Like Hodge he’s had limited game time for Wolves so far with only 14 career appearances but clearly did enough during his loan spell to convince them that they have a talent on their hands.

The latest debutant for Wolves is Jean-Ricner Bellegarde who signed from Strasbourg on deadline day. He put in a solid performance against Liverpool and joins having already scored two goals and contributed two assists in his first three Ligue 1 games.

Bellegarde was one of Strasbourg’s standout performers last season and works hard off the ball. His role against Liverpool was more of a number 10 drifting around, trying to find space and link play where as previously he has played a little bit deeper.

Tommy Doyle was added late in the transfer window and made his debut off of the bench against Liverpool and then another appearance in the later stages of the Luton game. The 21-year-old spent last season on loan from Manchester City at Sheffield United and was a key player in that side, which went on to win promotion, making 38 appearances, scoring four and assisting seven across league and cup.

He’ll be looking to prove he can perform a level higher with another loan from Man City and break into Wolves' new look midfield. Bellegarde’s sending off against Luton could give him an opportunity to play the next one in the 10 role in the league so he’ll be looking to get a decent number of minutes against Town.

<h1>Forwards </h1>

I’m grouping this next set of players into forwards because there is versatility in all of them to play anywhere across the front four positions.

We’ll start with Pedro Neto who has been Wolves standout performer this season and leads the Premier League with four assists. His quick feet and dribbling ability were particularly impressive against Liverpool, where he beat three defenders to get to the byline before playing a perfectly weighted pass to Hwang Hee Chan. Providing O’Neil sticks with his rotation, Town shouldn’t have to face him, although he could be on the bench in case things go wrong.

One who is likely to play is 31-year-old Pablo Sarabia. He signed from Paris Saint-Germain in January 2023 but has failed to hit the same heights as his spell at Sevilla where he scored 43 goals in 151 appearances.

Sarabia has now made 18 appearances and only scored one goal so far. He did however excel in the first round of this competition with three assists against Blackpool playing in a roaming midfield role. He’s one that Town will need to keep a close eye on.

Hwang Hee Chan has three goals so far this season (two from the bench) and has become something of a super-sub in the last season and a bit. He’ll be hoping to carry his scoring form on in games that he starts from now on.

Chan has had a few niggles and has been in and out of the side since making his loan from RB Leipzig a permanent move and can play on the right wing as well as down the middle. He is also a South Korea international and has good pedigree at that level with 10 goals in 53 caps.

Another January loan addition has been converted into a permanent transfer this summer with Matheus Cuhna sealing a £35 million permanent transfer. The nine-cap Brazilian isn’t a prolific goalscorer but provides a versatility to play as the main striker or in the number 10 role behind the striker. He’s netted once so far this season against Crystal Palace but always works hard and is constantly improving his all round game.

Fabio Silva has arguably been a flop since joining Wolves from Porto in September 2020. A lot of pressure came as he was tasked with replacing Diogo Jota for a fee of £35 million and he struggled looking too lightweight for the Premier League.

Silva has only scored four goals in 59 Premier League appearances and has been loaned out twice (Anderlecht and PSV Eindhoven) since moving to Wolves. His goal record was slightly better in both of those spells but that’s the main reason he’s had to make do with appearances off the bench so far this season.

But he’s still only 21 and will be looking to use this competition to make a mark. He netted in the first round against Blackpool and looked far more comfortable in a front two rather than being up top on his own.

His strike partner in that game was Sasa Kalajdzic. The Austrian arrived from Stuttgart in August 2022 but a serious injury on his debut against Southampton kept him out for the rest of the season.

Kalajdzic has a solid goal record in the Bundesliga (24 in 60) and also in Austria (12 in 35) where he featured for one of Town’s pre-season opponents, Admira Wacker.

At close to 6ft 5in tall, it was very much a little and large combo up front and his physical presence caused Blackpool problems with him getting on the scoresheet alongside Silva. He also scored the only goal of the game against Everton to win that match in the 87th minute. He definitely provides Wolves with a different option.

The final player in this group who is more likely to get minutes off of the bench is 18-year-old Paraguayan Enso Gonzalez, who signed this August from Libertad for a fee believed to be around £10 million.

The diminutive winger will draw comparisons with Miguel Almiron because of his nationality and he possesses a very similar skillset with quick feet, dribbling ability and a bit of flair, albeit this is only proven in the Primera Division so far.

Gonalez can play anywhere across the front three, preferring to operate on the right and cut in onto his left and a bit like Omari Hutchinson looks very comfortable in any of those slots. If O’Neil keeps the same formation as against Blackpool he’s likely to replace either Sarabia or Silva.

<h1>The Teams </h1>

Another cup team to pick for Town and another tough one. The players who have played all three games against Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton and Blackburn will surely sit out this one but the rest is hard to pick if McKenna wants to go a bit stronger than a full rotation.

Cieran Slicker has earnt a start with his penalty performance in the previous round. At right-back, Janoi Donacien should get the nod over Dom Ball if he’s fit.

I’d love to see Axel Tuanzebe partner Elkan Baggott but it sounds like he’ll be given more time to get up to speed so the Indonesia international will most likely be alongside George Edmundson.

At left-back, Brandon Williams is likely to come back in for Leif Davis, who battled through the last seven minutes on Saturday having picked up a knock.

In midfield, Lee Evans will start but with skipper Sam Morsy suspended for the next league game it could be alongside Luongo to get that partnership bedded in. However, it is more likely to be more game time for Jack Taylor.

I can also see a rotated front four with Kayden Jackson, Marcus Harness and Hutchinson coming in and Dane Scarlett getting a first start over Freddie Ladapo. I can see Ladapo getting minutes from the bench later on.

Wolves switched to a 3-5-2 to get players minutes in the first round against Blackpool and I can see them doing the same again here. That means Bentley in goal, a back three of Doherty, Toti and one of Dawson or Kilman.

The wing-backs are likely to be Jonny and Bueno with a midfield of Hodge, Traroe and Sarabia. There’s also a chance that Tommy Doyle will get some time in this one from the start.

Up top, the Kalajdzic and Silva partnership is likely to be given another run out. The one to look out for from the bench will definitely be Gonzalez.

<h1>Action Areas </h1>

Against Blackpool Doherty as the right centre-back pushed very high, almost alongside Jonny at times. This will create an overload that Town will need to deal with but could also open up that side for the counter. With Hutchinson and Jackson likely to play, I can see them rotating between the left and the right to exploit that space.

At other times an extra body will need to drop back into midfield. Harness has more pace than Chaplin so his rotation into this game could be used to keep that ten role a bit deeper to match up the numbers in midfield.

Sarabia will push and Silva will drop back a bit to link up with Kalajdzic providing the focal point. This could overload Town’s left centre-back, so it is likely our two central midfielders will need to sit deep and cover that off.

Wolves come into this one off a disappointing draw with Premier League new boys Luton and a tough start to the season. Town on the other hand are on a high and if Portman Road can get behind them, I definitely think they can go toe to toe with the Premier League outfit, especially as Wolves will have an eye on Man City at the weekend. I’m going 2-1 Town, but this could be another close game that could go either way.

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