Wolves 2-0 Crusaders
Goals: Diogo Jota (£6.5m), Ruben Vinagre (£4.5m)
Assists: Adama Traoré (£5.0m), Joao Moutinho (£5.5m)
Diogo Jota (£6.5m) picked up where 2018/19 left off as he scored Wolves first competitive goal of the new campaign.
Amid plenty of Fantasy interest this summer, the Portuguese international gave his side a deserved lead in the 37th minute at Molineux.
Loitering in the penalty box he pulled off a piece of exceptional technique as he slammed in Adama Traoré‘s (£5.0m) cross, which came in just behind him, on the half-volley.
In their first proper fixture of 2019/20, Nuno Espirito Santo retained Wolves’ 3-5-2 system which helped them to great success last term.
Fantasy managers will have been pleased to see the wing-backs continuing to play an important part in Wolves’ attacking play.
Traoré, standing in for the injured Matt Doherty (£6.0m), was effectively playing as a
Meanwhile, Jonny (£5.5m) added found himself in plenty of space on the left, while it was his replacement Ruben Vinagre (£4.5m) whose advanced positioning led to the third goal.
Joao Moutinho (£5.5m) played a ball into the box from deep, where Vinagre was waiting at the back post and he was able to tuck the ball away after goalkeeper Sean O’Neill allowed it to squirm through his grasp.
It must be said that the end-product of the wing-backs was a little inconsistent on the night but it is still early days in pre-season so this might be an area that improves closer to Gameweek 1.
Elsewhere in the team, there was another start at centre-forward for budget midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White (£5.0m).
He has been deployed alongside Jota in all three of Wolves’ pre-season matches now, including the Europa League win over Crusaders, scoring against Newcastle and offering the outside chance of an exceptional out-of-position opportunity this season.
However, we do just have to temper any excitement over Gibbs-White as a Fantasy asset this year with some disclaimers.
The first is that he had been playing up-front while Raúl Jiménez (£7.5m) was absent from friendly matches as a result of his extended leave following the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
After his time off, the Mexican is already back in the Wolves fold, named on the bench on Thursday night and coming on in the 58th minute.
With two weeks to go until Gameweek 1, we have to assume that Jiménez will be working towards starting at Leicester on Sunday, August 11.
However, Doherty might also hold the key here as it is his injury that is forcing Nuno to deploy Traoré at right wing-back.
If Doherty is back in time for Gameweek 1, then Traoré might also be in the frame for a centre-forward berth if Jiménez is not necessarily ready in time.
On the injury front, Wolves will currently be sweating on the fitness of central midfielder Ruben Neves (£5.5m).
He was replaced in the 58th minute with a side injury and was taken to hospital after the game for scans.
“(Neves) is struggling. Let’s see. It was a hard knock and he’s in pain now. We will take care of him.” – Nuno Espirito Santo
How much we can take forward from this game is tricky to assess though.
Obviously, the level of opposition Wolves faced was not exactly at Premier League level. Crusaders finished fourth in last season’s Northern Ireland Premiership, qualifying for the Europa League through winning the Irish Cup.
Furthermore, the club only offered players their first professional contracts at the start of last season.
For that reason, many might have expected Wolves to win by a bigger margin but there are still a few mitigating factors here.
Crusaders spent virtually the entire game sitting in a compact formation, with two banks of five, in an attempt to frustrate Wolves’ play. That’s a difficult prospect for even top-flight teams, especially at this early stage of pre-season.
“It’s tough, the season starts earlier. Players come in on different dates.” – Nuno Espirito Santo
Despite the Irish side trying to make things difficult for them, Wolves still managed to fire off 30 shots (10 on target) and visiting goalkeeper O’Neill was a busy man all night, working particularly hard to thwart Jota.
“We showed we are ready but not as sharp and accurate as we should be.” – Nuno Espirito Santo
Wolves XI (3-5-2): Patrício; Boly, Coady, Bennett; Jonny (Vinagre 64′), Neves (Jiménez 58′), Moutinho, Dendoncker, Traoré; Jota, Gibbs-White (Saïss 85′).
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