It has been a season to forget so far for Wolverhampton Wanderers. After a tough 2023/24 campaign, in which they were led to safety by manager Gary O’Neil, the Old Gold now find themselves rock bottom of the Premier League this term.
It may be surprising for people that Wolves are struggling as much as they are this season. BBC Sports’ chief football writer Phil McNulty was one person who thought they would steer well clear of the drop zone this term. He explained that, in his opinion, the Midlands outfit “can avoid danger” this term, although so far it has not worked out very well.
When looking more in-depth at their underlying stats this season, it is certainly a cause for concern for O’Neil, ahead of this afternoon’s clash with Brighton and Hove Albion.
Wolves’ stats in 2024/25
There is no doubt that the Old Gold have underwhelmed massively this term. The bottom-of-the-table side are yet to get a win on the board this term, one of four sides to do so along with Ipswich Town, Crystal Palace and Southampton. They have not even earned a point since a 1-1 draw away to Nottingham Forest.
Pinpointing their biggest weakness this season is not too difficult. They have been incredibly frail at the back, conceding the most goals in England’s top flight so far with 23, five more than any other side in the division.
They let six in against Chelsea at Molineux in a shocking 6-2 defeat and conceded five goals away from home to Brentford in a 5-3 loss.
What is perhaps most surprising is that O’Neil’s side are not last in the Premier League when it comes to the number of expected goals against. As per Understat, they rank 16th, with a tally of 16.54xGA, although they are massively underachieving on that front.
Interestingly, the Old Gold are not doing as well on the goalscoring side of things. They have scored ten times this term, with seven teams having scored less than that. They are overachieving on expected goals though, with an expected goals tally of 8.13xG this term. However, it is worth remembering that half of those goals came in two matches, against the Blues and the Bees.
It is hard to know where the Old Gold turn now, as they look to pick things up this season. However, O’Neil could well select an attacker ahead of today’s tough assignment against Brighton, in the hope it will change their fortunes.
The player who could start for Wolves against Brighton
The player in question here is young winger Rodrigo Gomes. The 21-year-old joined the club for £12.7m in the 2024 summer window, signing from SC Braga until 2029.
The Portugal under-21 international impressed last term during a loan spell with Estoril, scoring nine goals and grabbing eight assists in 36 games in all competitions. That included 14 goal involvements in 30 games in Liga Portugal.
A direct winger, he can be simply devastating to an opposition defence.
Stat
Number
Goals and assists
14
Expected goals
6.37xG
Big chances created
7
Key passes per game
1.2
Expected assists
3.19xA
Dribble completion rate per game
41%
Ball recoveries per game
3.8
Duels won per game
3.4
So far, opportunities have been few and far between for the Wolves number 19. He has played just four times for the Old Gold, featuring just once in the last six Premier League games, and is yet to register a goal involvement.
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Football scout Antonio Mango described the £25k-per-week talent as “a diamond” during his loan spell at Estoril Praia last term. The Old Gold are yet to see the best of him, but he could be the player who gets them out of this poor run of form.
The new man does only have one Premier League start under his belt so far, although he did catch the eye against the Seagulls in the EFL Cup earlier in the campaign, notably providing two key passes in that 3-2 defeat at the Amex.
Given Wolves’ poor form, O’Neil might well decide to try something new which could lift his team.
Brighton will prove to be a tough test, but Gomes could terrorise them if given the chance, and help lift his side out of the relegation zone, or, at the very least, begin to change their fortunes.
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