AllAboutWolves

After having won the championship in 2018, Wolverhampton Wanderers were tipped by many experts to take the premier league by storm and they didn’t disappoint. The newly promoted side finished 7th in the table and qualified for the europa league in the process. Having kept hold of all their key players this summer, adding a couple of talented youngsters along way, Wolves will be looking forward to move up a notch this season by trying to break into the top 6.

STYLE OF PLAY:

Nuno Espirito Santo started the 2018-19 season by adopting the 3-4-3 formation which brought them a lot of success in the championship. However, he soon realized after the first quarter of the season that it wasn’t working and shifted to a 3-5-2 formation. This enabled them to sit in deep with a back three and three midfielders, and counter attack oppositions, which brought them massive success against top 6 oppositions.

The two wing backs of Wolves, Doherty and Jonny provided a constant threat going forward and the front two of Jota and Jimenez scored 22 goals between them to propel the West Midlands side to 57 points, just 9 shy of Manchester United who finished sixth.

PRE SEASON FORM:

Wolves have been in blistering form in their preseason winning all the 4 matches played, including Europa league qualification matches and the premier league asia trophy as well.

• 17 July Newcastle United 0-4 Wolves
• 20 July Wolves 0-0(3-2 pens) Manchester City
• 25 July Europa League 2QR leg 1- Wolves 2-0 Cursaders
• 1 August Europa League 2QR leg 2- Crusaders 1-4 Wolves
• 8 August Europa League 3QR leg 1- v Pyunik

With no major departures in the summer, Wolves will be fairly satisfied with the job they’ve done in the transfer market thus far. On top of that, they themselves have done some shrewd business by acquiring the services of Patrick Cutrone and Jesus Vallejo, the latter has joined on a season-long loan from Real Madrid. They’ve also signed Leander Dendoncker on a permanent basis.

Cutrone will provide a much needed depth to the front line of the black country side. The Italian scored 13 goals for Milan in 63 appearances. Whilst that might not sound ominous enough, at the age of 21 he is definitely one of the most promising strikers in Europe and is only going to get better and better with more game time.

FPL FAN FAVOURITES FROM LAST SEASON:

Raul Jimenez, Matt Doherty and Diogo Jota were the ones who gave most joy to FPL teams. Jimenez chalked up 181 points, which was the most by a Wolves player. The Mexican scored 13 goals and also assisted 10 more of them.

Diogo Jota had a quiet first half of the season, but came of the life in the second part of the campaign, ending the season with 9 goals and 8 assists.

But the real hero of many FPL teams last season was Doherty. The buccaneering wing-back secured a whopping 144 points, contributing 4 goals and 7 assists in the process.

3 MUST OWN PLAYERS FROM WOLVES THIS SEASON:

1. DIOGO JOTA 6.5MIL

After having played exceedingly well in the second half of the 2018-19 season, Jota has carried that form into the preseason ,racking up 3 goals and 3 assists in 4 matches. With the introduction of VAR to the premier league, there is a very good chance that the Portuguese forward could win penalties to his side, being the kind of player he is. With both Jota and Jimenez slotted up as forwards in FPL, it will very difficult to have the pair of them. Jota, being 1MIL cheaper than Jimenez, may well be a better option among the two.

2. RAUL JIMENEZ 7.5MIL

Jimenez has been in the form of his life ever since joining Wolves last summer. The 28-year old was the top scorer for them last season and was voted as the club’s player of the season in May 2019. The Mexican then went on to guide his country to the CONCACAF Gold Cup win in the summer. Jimenez scored 5 goals to along with 2 assists and was awarded the player of the tournament.

Since joining back Wolves in July, Jimenez has scored 2 goals in as many matches in preseason. However, he has since picked up a foot injury which puts him in doubt for the opening game next weekend.

3. MATT DOHERTY 6MIL

Doherty was one of the most valuable players for FPL teams last season, with a starting price of 4.5 mil. Among all defenders, the 27-year old had the highest ICT index (201.6) , Influence(758.8) and Threat(711.0).

Just like Jimenez, Doherty too is a doubt for the first league game of the season, after picking up a knee injury in the Europa league qualifying match.

DIFFERENTIALS:

Considering the fact that Wolves have to manage the workload of both Europa League and the premier league, there could a lot of squad rotation. So the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White and Ruben Vinagre could prove to be viable options for FPL managers.

Players to avoid:

Ryan Bennet was a player who was owned by many managers as he one of the few defenders who started despite having a price of 4.0mil. But, this season his price has gone up to 5.0mil , add to that the arrival Vallejo, puts his place in the starting eleven in jeopardy.

Other players to not pick include the likes of Rui Patricio and Jonny Otto, the Wolves backline just kept 9 clean sheets last season.

ALLABOUTFPL VERDICT:

We’ve often seen teams with little squad depth struggle to do well in the premier league if they’re involved in European competition. Clubs like Burnley, Everton and Newcastle have shown in the recent past what a daunting task managing both competitions could prove to be. So we suggest you pick wolves’ players with caution!