Wolves will be kicking off their Championship season against the league favourites Middlesbrough. Wolves have undergone a big change over the summer. They appointed ex FC Porto boss Nuno Espírito Santo as their new manager. They have also signed a host of players, mainly from Portugal. Furthermore, they have broken their transfer record when they signed Ruben Neves for £15 million.
So with a new manager and a load of new signings, how will Wolves line up against Middlesbrough? Here is the predicted lineup.
Formation: 4-3-3
GK: John Ruddy
John Ruddy recently joined Wolves from Norwich on a free transfer. A great signing, given Ruddy’s experience. He has played in the Premier League, Championship and even made an appearance for England.
Ruddy has been Wolves’ main keeper in the preseason and it looks to remain that way for the rest of the season. Especially given the horrible news that Wolves other keeper Carl Ikeme was recently diagnosed with acute leukaemia.
Right back: Matt Doherty
Doherty was Wolves main right back last season. He had a very good season for the club in which he played 42 Championship games, scoring four and assisting six. And after starting most of Wolves’ pre season games, Doherty looks like he will continue to hold down his position at right back when Wolves face Middlesbrough.
Wolves have signed another right back this summer. Phil Ofosu-Ayeh recently signed for Wanderers on a free. However, he did not feature against Leicester meaning he is very unlikely to take Doherty’s spot against Boro.
Centre back: Roderick Miranda
Miranda is yet another Portuguese signing Wolves have added to their squad. The centre back recently arrived from Rio Ave for £2.55 million and looks to already be one of their main centre backs.
Miranda is an experienced centre back who has played 79 games in the Liga Nos. He looks a great signing for Wolves and will no doubt start vs Middlesbrough.
Centre back: Willy Boly
As well as signing a host of Portuguese players, Wolves new manager Nuno Espírito Santo also looks to be linking up with players he once managed during his time at FC Porto. The first of these being Boly.
Boly is only on loan at Wolves from Porto. But he still looks to be a very competent centre back despite not getting too much game time at Porto. Given Santo used to manage Boly it’s likely he will be very keen to play him against Boro as he obviously thinks he will do well in the Championship.
Left Back: Barry Douglas
Douglas has recently arrived at Wolves from Turkish side Konyaspor for around £1 million. Surprisingly, however, given Wolves’ new look team, he is Scottish and not Portuguese. Despite him not being Portuguese, Douglas still appears to be Wolves new number one left back and is likely to start against Middlesbrough.
Centre defensive midfield: Ruben Neves
Ruben Neves to Wolves is a transfer not many people saw coming. Neves completed his move to Wolves for £15 million, a club record fee. Neves is a young promising midfielder from Portugal who has a bright future ahead of him. He has linked up with his old Porto manager and is now looking to guide Wolves to the Premier League. Given Neves’s quality and fee, he is likely to start every game this season.
Centre defensive midfield: Romain Saiss
Saiss has been at Wolves for a year now. He moved last summer from France and played 24 Championship games as a CDM. Saiss must have impressed under Wolves new boss as he had played a lot in preseason and is looking to be one of their main CDM’s for the upcoming campaign.
Centre Midfield: Conor Coady
Over the past year, Coady has undergone a radical position change. He has moved from being a right back to a CDM. He now looks to be one of Wolves main CDM’s this season and Santo is clearly fond of Coady in his new role as he made him captain for their game against Leicester.
Left wing: Jordan Graham
Jordan Graham is probably not Wolves first choice to play against Middlesbrough on the wing. But unfortunately, Ivan Cavaleiro is still serving a red card suspension he picked up at the end of last season. Cavaleiro was shown a straight red card in Wolves 3-1 defeat to Derby at the end of last season.
Furthermore, Wolves star man Helder Costa is out injured due to surgery he underwent on July 10th.
This has left Wolves with a shortage of wingers for the Boro game, meaning they will have to call upon Graham. Graham missed practically all of last season with a knee injury. He made just two Championship appearances for Wolves. Therefore, while Graham is neither Wolves’ best nor fittest choice to play on the wing, injuries and suspensions mean they have very little choice in the matter.
Right wing: Diogo Jota
Jota has joined Wolves on a season long loan from Porto and is a superb signing. In his last season with Porto, he played 27 games getting seven assists and scoring eight goals. As well as playing all of Porto’s Champions League games.
Jota is also extremely versatile as he can play CAM, left wing or right wing. Despite the signing not being permanent, it is still a very good signing for Wolves and there’s no doubt he will start against Middlesbrough and cause their back line some trouble.
Striker: Bright Enobakhare
The striker spot is another position Wolves may be short in against Boro. Nouha Dicko is likely to be Wolves, main striker, this season unless they bring sign someone else. Unfortunately for Wolves fans though Dicko may miss the Middlesbrough game. Dicko did not feature in any capacity in Wolves final preseason game against Leicester due to injury. It is unclear if he will be fit for the Boro game.
Wolves do have another striker in Joe Mason. However, he also did not feature against Leicester. This was not injury related. But rather partly due to him looking likely to leave Wolves. Bristol City seem the most interested in Mason.
Wolves have also secured a season long loan for striker Leo Bonatini from Saudi side Al Hilal. However, he only joined the club on August 1st. This means he has not played any games with the Wolves squad. So, the manager may be reluctant to start a new signing who has only been there less than a week and had no actual game time with the squad.
This leaves Wolves to look to Enobakhare to provide the goals against Boro. This may prove a tall order for the youngster. Especially given he has made just 20 Championship appearances and is yet to score a goal in the competition.
