All 20 Premier League clubs’ seasons so far are analysed in our Half-Term Report series as the countdown to the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) restart continues.
FPL bosses will get unlimited transfers before Gameweek 17, so these articles will hopefully help you pinpoint some key targets for the Boxing Day resumption.
Here, we focus on bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers.
It’s not only our final piece of the series but, whisper it quietly, perhaps the least useful. All of the stats date from the Bruno Lage era, and he’s now been replaced by Julen Lopetegui at the helm.
You can read up on the new Wolves boss here, while we’ve got Scout Notes on all of their mid-season friendlies in our complete guide to the restart.
This piece will, at least, attempt to bring to light what Lopetegui has to deal with in his in-tray.
ATTACK: SEASON SO FAR
| Total | Rank v other clubs (adjusted per game) | |
| Goals scored | 8 | 20th |
| Shots | 177 | 11th |
| Shots in the box | 103 | 15th |
| Shots on target | 48 | 18th= |
| Big chances | 18 | 19th |
| Expected goals (xG) | 15.34 | 17th |
| Non-penalty expected goals (NPxG) | 13.76 | 18th |
Top of the pile on the to-do list: the attack.
There’s no secret as to why Wolves are where they are in the Premier League table right now, sitting as they are rock bottom for goals scored.
On only one occasion did Lage’s erstwhile troops score more than one goal in a league match, that happening against Brighton in Gameweek 15.
They have the worst shot-to-goal conversion rate in the league (4.5%), no surprise perhaps when 74 of their 177 efforts have come from outside the area.
But even ‘big chance’ conversion is abysmal, at 29.4%.
The struggle for goals is nothing new, as any Wolves fan will tell you, and they ranked 17th and 16th for goals scored in the two seasons that preceded this one.
Above: How Wolves compare to other Premier League sides for minutes per NPxG across 2022/23 (click to expand)
DEFENCE: SEASON SO FAR
| Total | Rank v other clubs (adjusted per game) | |
| Goals conceded | 24 | 13th |
| Clean sheets | 4 | 10th= |
| Shots conceded | 198 | 13th |
| Shots in the box conceded | 130 | 12th |
| Shots on target conceded | 63 | 9th |
| Big chances conceded | 24 | 5th= |
| Expected goals conceded (xGC) | 19.59 | 8th |
| Non-penalty expected goals conceded (NPxGC) | 18.01 | 8th |
Wolves’ defence hasn’t been too bad this season, giving Lopetegui a base to start from.
The West Midlanders actually concede big chances at a lower rate than champions Manchester City, so they perform fairly well on the xGC front as a result:
Above: How Wolves compare to other Premier League sides for minutes per NPxGC across 2022/23 (click to expand)
Their defensive numbers have mostly improved across the board compared to 2021/22 – the difference this time being that Jose Sa (£5.0m) has turned from Lev Yashin into Lionel Perez:
| Jose Sa’s expected goals prevented (xGP) | |
| 2022/23 | -4.90 |
| 2021/22 | +7.50 |
BIGGEST GOAL THREATS
1 year, 4 months agoIt’s basically come down to this:
A) KdB, Martinelli, Kepa, Walker, Patterson
B) Foden, Rashford, Allison, Cancelo, Castagne
Which one?