Wolves came into the Premier League last season as one of the 3 promoted sides from the Championship with an astonishing finish of 99 points from 46 games. They were expected by many to do well with reference to the style pf play which they had, both defensively sound and deadly on the counter.
They managed to do just that. In fact, they became what was known as ‘the best of the rest’, finishing in 7th place with 57 points, reaching the FA Cup semi final and qualifying for the Europa League in the process.
Since the Europa League is a tiring competition and everyone cannot handle the pressure as we saw with Burnley in 2017/18, Wolves did need signings in the summer. That’s what Nuno was delivered. They started by signing the PSG under 19 captain and promising young defender Raphael Nya.
Then, they had to sell winger Helder Costa to Leeds United, signing Real Madrid defender Jesus Vallejo on loan for the season as Nuno strengthened his backline for the upcoming season. They also moved to the other side of the pitch, signing highly rated striker Patrick Cutrone from AC Milan for a steal at £20 million.
Also, Wolves have recently announced the signing of the Portuguese duo Pedro Neto and Bruno Jardao, who spent last season with Lazio.
Pre-season Form
Wolves couldn’t have many pre-season friendlies as they had to go through the qualifying rounds of the Europa League to enter the group stages. But they did manage to win the Premier League Asia Trophy held in China, first thrashing Newcastle 4-0 and then, beating the Premier League Champions Manchester City on penalties after it ended 0-0.
Their Europa League campaign also started perfectly with a 6-1 aggregate victory over Crusaders, including a 4-1 thrashing away from home. They next face Pyunik in the 3rd qualifying round to qualify for the group stage.
Star Man – Raul Jimenez (£7.5m)
There were a lot of top performers for Wolves last season, but it’s really hard to look past the Mexican Raul Jimenez. He scored 13 goals and provided 7 assists last season and was also the highest point collector in the Wolves’ side with 181 points.
Since, Wolves play on the counter, with wing backs flying forward, Jimenez being the main man, is expected to be at the end of any of the chances which are created by the wing backs and Jota.
Also, keeping faith on Jimenez is also due to the fact that he had an excellent Gold Cup, scoring 5 goals and providing a further 2 in 6 appearances as he guided Mexico to glory.
Hidden Gem – Matt Doherty (£6.0m)
Wolves were a defensive side last season that relied on the runs from the wing backs to create spaces. So, Matt Doherty was a really underrated pick last season and a very reliable option for both defensive and attacking contributions.
Currently owned by 4.0%, Doherty can be the hidden gem this season, just like last where he went under the radar and scored the 2nd highest amount of points in the Wolves side, even more than Diogo Jota. Hence, Doherty may be the low ownership player to deliver again.
Gamble Pick – Diogo Jota (£6.5m)
Many of the FPL managers will be looking to go for Diogo Jota, as he had a great season for Wolves last season, showed glimpses of great potential.
There are two aspects that make him a gamble, the first being the increase in fixtures and competition this season makes the chance of rotation more likely and with Jimenez being the main man, Jota would likely be the one to get rotated. In addition, Wolves have brought in Cutrone which could also reduce the potential gametime for the forward.
Jota was really clinical last season with his chances, as he just about matched his expected goals and assists. So, it’s not completely given that he’d still be clinical this season, it can still go either way for the Portuguese forward.
Predicted Line-up
Patricio
Jonny – Bennett – Coady – Boly – Doherty
Dendoncker – Moutinho – Neves
Jimenez – Jota
Written by Tamish Behal (@Tamish_Behal)
