Newcastle United were held to a goalless draw by Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, with Anthony Gordon (£7.5m) and Nick Woltemade (£7.2m) subbed off midway through the second half.
Here are our Scout Notes from Molineux.
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GORDON + WOLTEMADE SUBBED OFF
Newcastle failed to break down a stubborn Wolves defence on Sunday, with a lack of quality in the final-third.
Woltemade, who led the line with Yoane Wissa (£7.3m) benched, had a couple of aerial opportunities in the first-half, but for the most part, lacked conviction and looked devoid of confidence.
With Gordon also ineffective, the pair were hooked in the 66th minute.
Woltemade has now failed to score in each of his last five league matches, while Gordon is goalless in seven.
Toothless in attack, it actually took Newcastle 85 minutes to register their first shot on target, when Bruno Guimaraes (£7.2m) tested Wolves ‘keeper Jose Sa (£4.2m). The Brazilian later fluffed a final chance in injury time, bending his effort wide of the post, bringing his run of double-digit hauls to an end in the process.
“We needed to do more in attack. I expected us to do better and create more. We attacked better the longer the game went on, substitutions helped and some good openings towards the end, but a frustrating day. The expectation was on us to create and we needed to do it better. Too many balls going across the front of their goal with not enough black and white shirts in the box, so that was a disappointment for us.
“Football is such a strange game. We score four against Leeds and look free-scoring, attack and create at any moment but today was a different game and we struggled. I don’t think our attacking output today was good enough. We have to find a way to score more goals on the road.” – Eddie Howe
Indeed, six of Newcastle’s 11 Premier League away matches this season have yielded no goals whatsoever.
Discussing his squad and the attacking options available, Eddie Howe said:
“We replaced a winger for a winger, they have different qualities all of them. Whether it is Harvey Barnes or the two Anths [Gordon and Elanga], Jacob Murphy when he is fit, they all have different attributes. You saw Anthony Elanga come on today. I thought he did really well and I was really happy with him. He gives us a totally different threat to somebody who plays in that position.
“I think you can say that for Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa. They are two totally different strikers but they will both be labelled a striker. So that is the squad we have got. And I am really proud to manage this group of players.” – Eddie Howe
THIAW NINE-POINTER
Newcastle did at least record a clean sheet, their first on the road since September.
Malick Thiaw (£5.1m) banked the maximum bonus, thanks in part to a 96% pass completion rate, one key pass, one successful dribble and five clearances.
Above: The leading players for BPS in Wolves v Newcastle
He narrowly moved ahead of Lewis Hall (£5.3m) for bonus, who was tackled five times (-5).
However, Hall has now produced a return in each of his last four matches, with an assist, two clean sheets, two bonus and two defensive contribution (DefCon) points.
Elsewhere, Lewis Miley (£4.5m) dropped to the bench, with Kieran Trippier (£4.9m) preferred at right-back.
Trippier was solid at Molineux and almost scored from a free-kick, so it remains to be seen if Miley will now go back to competing in his more natural central midfield position.
He’ll probably be needed in both, however, with Newcastle about to embark on a tricky run of fixtures, with Wednesday’s trip to PSV Eindhoven followed by Premier League matches against Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City in the next five Gameweeks.
WOLVES’ DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT
As for Wolves, they are now unbeaten in four Premier League matches, as they continue to show improvement under Rob Edwards.
They still have a mountain to climb if they’re to avoid relegation, but they at least now have a clear structure.
The defensive improvement is backed up by the underlying numbers: over the last seven Gameweeks, only three teams have conceded fewer big chances than their 12.
“Especially from a defensive point of view, we’ve had to become more solid. We are growing and we do look like now that we’re certainly not giving much away, and that gives us the best chance of being in games to get the points. If we can keep it to zero, we know we’re going to be in the game. That’s two Premier League clean sheets in a row here at home, and it’s great because that gives us a really good base.” – Rob Edwards
Next up: a trip to Manchester City on Saturday.
However, it was very much a defence-first approach in Gameweek 22, with Wolves’ six shots generating only 0.29 expected goals (xG).
