Next up for our 2024/25 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) team previews is Wolverhampton Wanderers.
They faced a challenging start to last season, with Gary O’Neil stepping in as head coach just two days before it all began. After finishing 14th in the league, Wolves will be aiming for at least consolidation in mid-table this time around.
In these team guides, we’ll be looking at the best players from each club for the upcoming campaign. We’ll also take a stab at predicted line-ups for Gameweek 1, review pre-season and more.
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WOLVES: REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
The 14th-placed finish last season is somewhat deceiving. Only three points separated Wolves from 10th spot, giving them justified optimism to finish in the top half this time around.
To improve their attacking threat, Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.5m) has joined on loan from Celta Vigo and Rodrigo Gomes (£5.0m) arrives from Braga. Both players have impressed in pre-season, with six attacking returns between them.
Furthermore, Wolves have also recruited the club’s first-ever set-piece coach. Jack Wilson comes from Manchester City with the intent of drastically improving this area and the players have had the benefit of working with him for a whole summer.
The Old Gold may even be able to provide us with a £4.0m starting defender, more of which below.
WOLVES: REASONS TO BE FEARFUL
However, they have seen star winger Pedro Neto (£6.5m) depart for Chelsea. Priced at £54m, the transfer is a record sale for Wolves.
Despite being sidelined by injury and starting only 18 matches, Neto played a crucial role in Wolves’ attack by contributing 11 assists.
Wolves posted some middling underlying attacking numbers in 2023/24, it has to be said. Ranked 16th for goals scored (50), they only bettered the three relegated sides for non-penalty xG:
Above: The worst Premier League teams for NPxG per 90 minutes last season, via Statsbomb
O’Neil can, in his defence, point to Neto, Hwang Hee-chan (£6.5m) and Matheus Cunha (£6.5m) being injured for large chunks of last season.
O’Neil’s lot also struggled defensively, tied with Brentford for conceding 65 goals. Just six other teams allowed more. Their sixth-worst expected goals conceded (xGC) further highlights the need for defensive improvement, especially following Max Kilman’s (£4.5m) switch to West Ham United.
Above: The worst Premier League teams for NPxG conceded per 90 minutes last season, via Statsbomb
SUMMER TRANSFER ACTIVITY
These two big-money outgoings far outweigh what has been spent so far.
Joining Strand Larsen and Gomes in the arrivals lounge is central midfielder Tommy Doyle (£5.0m) – who was already on loan last season – and young defender Pedro Lima (£4.0m). He’s an option at right-back/wing-back but at just 18 years old with precious little first-team experience, he’s probably one for the future.
PRE-SEASON REPORT
| Jul 15 | Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Como (Marbella) | Doherty (Ait-Nouri assist) |
| Jul 20 | Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 Bristol City (Compton Park) | Cunha (Cundle assist), Hwang (Sarabia assist), own-goal (Dawson assist) |
| Jul 28 | Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 West Ham United (EverBank Stadium, Florida) | Cunha (Strand Larsen assist), R Gomes, R Gomes (Lima assist) |
| Aug 1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-3 Crystal Palace (Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Maryland) | S Bueno (Strand Larsen assist) |
| Aug 4 | Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 RB Leipzig (Chase Stadium, Miami) | Sarabia (Doherty), Sarabia (Strand Larsen assist), R Gomes (Hwang assist) |
| Aug 10 | Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Rayo Vallecano (Molineux) |
Wolves’ attacking output has been promising, with goals in every fixture except the final one.
O’Neil will certainly be pleased to see new guys Strand Larsen and Gomes bag a trio of assists and goals respectively.
Of the rest, Pablo Sarabia (£5.5m) continued to demonstrate his attacking potential by scoring two and setting up another. Cunha netted twice whilst Hwang and Matt Doherty (£4.5m) nabbed a goal and assist each.
OPENING FIXTURES
There’s no sugarcoating it – Wolves have a fairly horrendous set of opening games.
So bad, in fact, that our Season Ticker ranks their early six, seven, eight and nine fixtures in last place. They’ll have faced six of last year’s top seven by Gameweek 8.
On a more positive note, the others are against Nottingham Forest and Brentford. These could be an opportunity for a budget rotation pick to shine.
Caution is advised to all FPL managers and patience may be key for Wolves transfers, waiting until fixtures improve in the autumn.
All three promoted clubs are to come between Gameweeks 11-17, which seems like a good time to pounce.
WOLVES’ PENALTY AND SET-PIECE TAKERS
Cunha, Hwang and Sarabia (twice) all scored penalties last season, so the hierachy is a bit of a muddle.
Sarabia and Hwang weren’t on the field when one of their teammates took one. However, Cunha was playing when Hwang stepped up and Sarabia scored one of his two.
When starting, Sarabia tends to be on free-kicks and corners.
The Spaniard took seven of Wolves’ direct free-kicks last season, with Neto and Doyle having three and two attempts.
He played little more than half of the minutes in Wolves’ league campaign, yet took more than twice as many corners (71) as any of his teammates. Neto, now departed, delivered 34, with no one else responsible for more than 15.
PREDICTED LINE-UP
Nelson Semedo (£4.5m) will be suspended until Gameweek 4, so temporary cover at right-back is needed. Doherty is probably that, although Lima is also a possibility.
An update is awaited on Cunha, as the Brazilian faces a race against time to recover from a hamstring issue. O’Neil expects him to be fit.
Wolves were in a back four for much of pre-season but it’s Arsenal at the Emirates first, so O’Neil may have something alternative up his sleeve for a daunting curtain-raiser.
BEST FPL OPTIONS
Last season’s top scorers Hwang and Cunha hit their stride under O’Neil’s management. By each netting a dozen times, they accounted for nearly half of Wolves’ 50 overall goals.
Hwang’s goal conversion rate stood out as particularly impressive, with all strikes coming from just 45 shots. Can he sustain that ruthlessness? He’s been the Wolves attacker with the best conversion rate in each of the last three seasons, so very possibly.
When fit, Cunha is a nailed starter. It’s simply a matter of whether he makes the line-up at Arsenal.
“He’ll be available for Arsenal, we just have to see how much work he does between now and then to see how long he’ll be available for. If all goes to plan, I expect him to be in the squad for the weekend.” – Gary O’Neil on Matheus Cunha
Given such challenging opening fixtures, it’s understandable that FPL managers might consider alternative players for their midfield and forward slots to start the campaign.
The addition of Strand Larsen could enable Hwang and Cunha to play slightly further back in their preferred positions. It’s been made clear that they intend to deploy the loanee as a number nine, a move welcomed by the Norwegian because he has to compete with Erling Haaland (£15.0m) at international level.
Sarabia is intriguing, being on set-pieces and accumulating four goals and seven assists in spite of a low 20 starts. His form from friendlies is encouraging but he’s still not a guaranteed part of the starting XI.
O’Neil has highlighted his intention to implement a back four from now on, in contrast to last time’s preferred 3-4-2-1 formation.
Kilman’s departure provides some uncertainty at the back but Yerson Mosquera (£4.0m) presents a budget-friendly option. Summer runouts indicate that he’ll partner with Toti Antonio Gomes (£4.5m), making him a potential enabler in FPL teams.
Fellow defender Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.5m) could also offer good value when the fixtures improve. In 29 starts, he recorded five attacking returns and demonstrated his attacking threat when sometimes being used as a left-winger. Yet his initial price remains unchanged for 2024/25. Should Wolves tighten up, he could become a superb bargain.
ONES FOR THE WATCHLIST
A silver lining to such tough opening fixtures is that FPL managers have time to monitor their assets over without feeling rushed into making a transfer.
At £5.5m, Strand Larsen could be a steal. He looks to be a reliable starter until they enter the transfer market to replace Neto.
Ranking fifth for overall La Liga shots last season, he notched a total of 13 goals at Celta and has a few ingredients for a successful campaign.
With heavy competition for attacking spots, we could see some gems appear over the first 10 Gameweeks. Sarabia could build upon previous attacking output and eyes will also be on young attacker Gomes. Versatile, with pre-season goals under his belt, he has shown real promise.
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