Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolverhampton Wanderers side have unquestionably been one of the biggest Premier League stories of the last couple of seasons. Turn back the clock a few years to the final day of the 2016/17 EFL Championship season, and Wolves could be found languishing in 15th place, with no return to the top flight anywhere in sight. The next year they won the Championship, and they haven’t looked back since.
The team from the Black Country, unimaginably, finished their first season back in the Premier League in seventh place, securing European football this season in the process. While the pessimists will argue that it all came at a whopping cost, the true Wolverhampton Wanderers faithful would vouch for the fact that irrespective of all the background noise, these are some of the best years in the club’s long-standing history.
Wolves’ Special Record At Home
With all the excellent work that this Wolves team has done over the last couple of seasons, it’s safe to say that they’re now one of the league’s bigger clubs. Nuno’s most recent league fixture came in the form of a Premier League draw against Leicester City. Alarmingly though, it was the first time that Wolves failed to score a goal at the Molineux since last drawing a blank against Brighton near the end of last season.
Since that fixture on the 20th of April, Wolves have scored a goal in every home league fixture they have played, which included bouts against all of the biggest teams in the country.
Three Factors That Led To Wolves Finally Drawing A Blank At Home:
Raul Jimenez Left His Shooting Boots At Home
The Mexican talisman has been one of the league’s most consistent goal-scorers since the start of last season, but he had a night to forget at the Molineux last Friday. The usually clinical attacker had multiple clear-cut opportunities to beat Kasper Schmeichel in the Leicester goal but was unable to take any of them. Many will argue that on another day, Jimenez could’ve had a hat-trick.
Adama Traore Wasn’t Fit Enough To Start
Nuno had declared before the fixture that the speedster would be a doubt for the tie, but he was eventually fit enough to make the bench. Pedro Neto was brought into the lineup in the Spaniard’s stead. Although the youngster tried to make an impact in the first-half, he slowly fizzled out of the game, and couldn’t influence proceedings. The gaffer brought Adama Traore on with around 25 minutes to spare. Although the speed demon tried to move Wolves forward on his own, it turned out to be too late in the end.
VAR
The most frustrating part for Wolves fans would’ve been that Willy Boly actually put the ball in the back of the net right before the half-time whistle. The goal was overruled by VAR, for one of the most marginal offsides that’s been witnessed in the Premier League this season. The flailing boot of the corner-taker, rushing back to get on-side, turned out to be the difference between getting one point and three.
