Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 Norwich City
- Goals: Diogo Jota (£6.1m) x2, Raul Jimenez (£7.8m)
- Assists: Matt Doherty (£6.1m), Romain Saiss (£4.4m), Jota
- Bonus: Jota x3, Saiss x2, Doherty x1
It was 2018/19 all over again at Molineux on Sunday, with Diogo Jota (£6.1m), Raul Jimenez (£7.8m) and Matt Doherty (£6.1m) delivering attacking returns and Nuno Espirito Santo rolling out a 3-5-2.
Having used a 3-4-3 for much of this season, Santo hinted at a change in system when moving to a two-man strikeforce after an hour of the 4-0 win over Espanyol last week.
The tactical tweak paid dividends as Wolves dominated the La Liga side in that final 30 minutes, with Jota going on to shine in a central role and complete a hat-trick.
Adama Traore (£5.9m) was the player sacrificed in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday when his manager switched to a 3-5-2 and he was again the makeweight against Norwich City on Sunday, emerging only as a 72nd-minute substitute.
It’s perhaps a little premature to completely write off Traore, though.
Norwich’s dominance of the midfield in the reverse fixture may have figured in Santo’s thoughts on Sunday, as he hinted at in his post-match comments:
We were well organised, the shape was good, and we didn’t allow many chances to Norwich. They had four clear chances in the [previous] game at Norwich, so we improved on that, and I’m happy.
Traore’s superlative performance against Tottenham Hotspur in December will also surely be something Santo will consider next weekend, given that Wolves face the Lilywhites in Gameweek 28.
Still, it’s not an ideal situation for the 20%+ of FPL managers who own him heading into a Blank Gameweek in which there may be other fires to fight.
On the flip side, Jota is very much one to monitor if Santo does stick with a 3-5-2.
His fortunes were transformed last season when his manager switched to that formation in Gameweek 15 and he went on to register nine goals and seven assists in his final 20 Premier League appearances.
Jota ran Norwich ragged at times on Sunday, opening the scoring when collecting Doherty’s pass and firing through Tim Krul (£4.5m).
The Portugal international then fired in from point-blank range following a well-worked corner-kick routine and came within inches of completing a hat-trick in the 49th minute, with his shot from inside the box crashing back off Krul’s post.
Jota at least banked a consolation assist from that effort, with Jimenez collecting the rebound and smashing in from on the goal-line.
The Mexican played second fiddle to his strike partner against the Canaries but could have had other/further returns himself, with Jota twice failing to pick out his fellow forward when the goal was gaping.
Jimenez – or Willy Boly (£4.7m) – could easily have been the scorer of Wolves’ second goal, too, with a queue forming to tap in Romain Saiss‘ (£4.4m) cut-back.
The early, leg-saving withdrawal of Jimenez and Jota perhaps hints at what’s in store over the coming weeks so long as Wolves remain in the Europa League, although the sizeable first-leg lead Santo’s side has built up could mean that some players are spared this Thursday – as the Wolves boss hinted yesterday:
We’ll decide [on whether to rotate] now, we still have a couple of days to work. Of course, we have players coming back. If it’s possible, we’ll do it. Because we want to have all the options available.
Wolves recorded their third straight clean sheet on Sunday, their sixth in 11 matches with Boly in the starting XI.
It was generally a comfortable afternoon for the hosts’ defence, although Norwich were the brighter of the two teams in the opening quarter of an hour, with Teemu Pukki (£6.5m) having a shot saved from inside the six-yard box and Kenny McLean (£4.8m) hitting a fizzing effort from outside the area into the midriff of Rui Patricio (£5.1m).
Three shots from the Canaries in the final 75 minutes told its own story, however.
Next up for Wolves’ improving backline is an away trip to Spurs, who have looked impotent without Son Heung-min (£9.9m) and Harry Kane (£10.8m).
It’s not just about clean sheets for Wolves’ defenders, either, with Doherty and Saiss underscoring their attacking threat with assists and Boly inches away from making contact before Jota did for Wolves’ second goal.
Doherty almost capped off a memorable afternoon for his owners late on but was unable to steer Ruban Vinagre‘s (£4.2m) 88th-minute cross past Krul.
The fit-again Vinagre was only on the field because of an injury to Jonny (£5.4m), which Santo described as a “big kick” in his post-match presser.
For Norwich, seven points adrift at the foot of the table, the Championship looms ever closer.
This match was the Canaries’ season in microcosm, with Pukki and co unable to capitalise on some decent possession and chances and eventually succumbing to another defeat on the road.
Krul’s superb save from a Ruben Neves (£5.2m) free-kick and another fine stop from that aforementioned Doherty chance kept the scoreline down, with Norwich’s defence looking less watertight than it had done in previous weeks.
Two enforced changes at the back didn’t help, with Jamal Lewis (£4.4m), in particular, having a difficult afternoon on his return to the starting XI.
With Sam Byram (£4.4m) out for the season and Christoph Zimmermann (£4.4m) uncertain to make a return in Gameweek 28, owners of Leicester City assets will have watched this defensive display at Molineux with keen interest.
Daniel Farke said of his back four’s performance:
I don’t want to accuse my defence too much today. I had to make two changes to my back four and it’s not easy. For Ben Godfrey, he came into the starting eleven for the first time in ten weeks.
It was the same for Jamal Lewis as well. It was not easy for them to come in but they needed this game and the minutes.
On his side’s injury latest, Farke added:
With Christoph, it’s a muscle strain and it’s also doubtful if he’s available for the Leicester game.
With Onel [Hernandez], no final update. It looks like he might need another surgery which would also mean that he would be out for a few weeks but we didn’t have the final decision yet.
Wolverhampton Wanderers XI (3-5-2): Patricio; Boly, Coady, Saiss; Doherty, Dendoncker, Neves Moutinho, Jonny (Vinagre 80′); Jimenez (Traore 72′) Jota (Neto 63′).
Norwich City XI (4-2-3-1): Krul, Aarons, Hanley, Godfrey, Lewis; Tettey, McLean; Rupp (Buendia 58′), Cantwell (Stiepermann 83′) Duda (Drmic 58′); Pukki.
4 years, 2 months ago@Amey I don't imagine AWB is that attacking, is he? Could Shaw or even Williams match his attacking output at a lesser price? Asking you as the fan.
Man Utd don't have good fixtures now but from 32 until the end they look really good for clean sheets and have a high chance of a DGW too.