'Wolves Are Looking To Turn A Corner'

Next Match | Saturday 2 May Sat 2 May

BLB

(A)

00 D

02 H

25 M

00 S

Interviews & Features

Heritage

Photos

'Wolves Are Looking To Turn A Corner'

Following midweek success over Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers are approaching a crucial moment in their season, according to Alex Dicken of the Birmingham Mail.

2021-02-07T09:05:00.000Z

by Sam Jones

Published

07 Feb, 2021

'Wolves Are Looking To Turn A Corner'

Following midweek success over Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers are approaching a crucial moment in their season, according to Alex Dicken of the Birmingham Mail.

Sam Jones

2021-02-07T09:05:00.000Z

'Wolves Are Looking To Turn A Corner'

Following midweek success over Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers are approaching a crucial moment in their season, according to Alex Dicken of the Birmingham Mail.

Sam Jones

2021-02-07T09:05:00.000Z

'Wolves Are Looking To Turn A Corner'

Following midweek success over Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers are approaching a crucial moment in their season, according to Alex Dicken of the Birmingham Mail.

Sam Jones

2021-02-07T09:05:00.000Z

'Wolves Are Looking To Turn A Corner'

Following midweek success over Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers are approaching a crucial moment in their season, according to Alex Dicken of the Birmingham Mail.

Sam Jones

2021-02-07T09:05:00.000Z

- Wolverhampton Wanderers entertain Leicester City at Molineux Stadium on Sunday afternoon (2pm kick-off)- Leicester won the reverse fixture 1-0 at King Power Stadium back in November 2020 thanks to Jamie Vardy's spot-kick- Birmingham Mail reporter Alex Dicken assessed Wolves' season so far and looked ahead to the weekend's Premier League meeting- He highlighted why they have so far struggled to reach the heights of the two previous campaigns and picked out the team's danger men

Their 2-1 comeback victory on Tuesday evening halted a run of eight Premier League games without a win for Nuno Espírito Santo's men, stretching back to 15 December.

Two strikes either side of half-time from midfield duo Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho helped Wolves rise to 14th in the flight standings, despite going behind to Nicolas Pepe's early goal for the Gunners - who saw both David Luiz and Bernd Leno sent off.

And Dicken expects Leicester City to provide a real test of whether Wolves have recovered from their recent slump, when the Foxes visit Molineux Stadium on Sunday (2pm kick-off).

"It's been a surprise to us that's it's come this season, really," Dicken admitted. "Obviously Wolves were in the Europa League last season so we thought maybe the fixture pile-up would hurt them, but it didn't, they finished seventh again, but this year has been completely different, really.

"They only had three or four days pre-season before the season started because of their European commitments last August so it didn't start on the best footing, but the results weren't that bad.

"I think we always felt they were going to start paying for those sluggish performances they were putting in and eventually it happened. Since the last game against Leicester and that defeat at King Power Stadium, which almost set the tone for this poor run really, I think it's been three wins in 14 in the league.

"So it's a completely different season to the last two years. For Wolves now, it's just mainly about pulling away from those relegation places and making sure they aren't in that dogfight at the end of the season.

"They won against Arsenal last time out but still in that game Arsenal went down to 10 men on the stroke of half-time and that was the turning point, so we can't really judge that game I think.

"It's the next two games, Leicester and Southampton, which will get a real reflection of whether Wolves have actually turned a corner or whether they just beat 10 men."

One man who has impressed so far this term is Portuguese winger Pedro Neto, who is Wolves' joint top goalscorer alongside Raúl Jiménez, with four Premier League goals to his name. He has also provided more assists than any other Wolves player (4).

"They've got great players and they should be doing a lot better than they are this season. I can only think of one player who is actually playing better this year than last season and that's Pedro Neto. The rest of them have been quite poor, so there's a lot of frustration.

"Daniel Podence has been a lot better but he didn't play much last year, he only played towards the end of the season. He's struggled a little bit since coming back from injury, he had about a month off following a game against Manchester United on 29 December.

"He's not been as good since, but we expect him to get back to his high levels in the next few weeks. Neto is by far and away Wolves' danger man this season. He's already wrapped up their Player of the Season trophy."

Forward Willian José, signed on loan from La Liga outfit Real Sociedad in January, now carries the burden of replacing the absent Jiménez. Although yet to get off the mark for Wanderers in his first three appearances, Dicken has seen promising signs from the Brazilian-born frontman.

"Willian José is a really interesting one because having watched a lot of games for Sociedad before he came here and his first few games for Wolves, he looks to be the player they need," the Birmingham Mail reporter added.

"He's similar to Jiménez in that he's a physical presence, great in the air, can connect with those crosses that Neto and Adama Traoré put into the box, but he's not as mobile as Jiménez, so it just gives them that focal point that they've really missed.

"Jiménez did so much more for the team than just scoring goals so they've really missed him. Fabio Silva is 18 and couldn't step into those shoes, so the signs are good so far with Willian.

"It's a case of him scoring goals and hitting the ground running now and getting on the goal trail because that's what Wolves are lacking, they don't score many goals, particularly their attacking players don't score many goals.

"He's had a few chances so far and not taken them. He had two at Palace when they lost 2-1, one that he should have scored and he had a decent chance against Arsenal to put the game to bed that he didn't take."

All times GMT.

LATEST HEADLINES

‘Do The Right Things’ – Rowett’s Blackburn Preview Gary Rowett wants to see a performance defined by effort and desire at Blackburn Rovers on the final day of the 25/26 campaign.

2 Hours 49 Mins Ago

Ricardo Pereira To Leave Leicester City At End Of Season Leicester City captain Ricardo Pereira will play his final match for us on Saturday 2 May, bringing to an end a Foxes career spanning eight seasons and over 200 matches.

17 Hours 5 Mins Ago

Passmoor's Squad Update Ahead Of Chelsea Women Rick Passmoor shared a squad update with the media heading into our final home game of the season this Sunday afternoon against Chelsea (2:30pm BST kick-off).

22 Hours 4 Mins Ago

LCFC Women vs. Chelsea - Tickets & Coverage Details Tickets for our final home game of the Barclays Women's Super League season are still available for Sunday afternoon, when we welcome Chelsea to King Power Stadium.

22 Hours 4 Mins Ago