Wolves suffered a devastating defeat to West Midlands rivals Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime. Despite going down to 10 men after Douglas Luiz’s second yellow card, Villa earned themselves a 94th minute penalty, which was converted by substitute Anwar El Ghazi. Wolves then had Joao Moutinho sent off for a second yellow card in the game’s closing stages.
Rui Patricio
Despite the defeat, Patricio had very little to do at Molineux. The Portugal number one made a strong stop from a deflected Watkins effort with Villa’s only shot on target from open play. Dived the wrong way for El Ghazi’s match winning penalty but would have struggled to stop it even if he guessed right. 6/10.
Nelson Semedo
A woeful performance from Wolves’ £27m+ signing. Was responsible for marshalling Jack Grealish, who had the beating of him all afternoon. He then cost Wolves two points by allowing McGinn to beat him in a tight situation before stupidly clipping the Scottish midfielder. Semedo has a lot of work to do. 3/10.
Conor Coady
Had a solid, if unspectacular, game. Bounced back relatively well from an awful display at Anfield last week and managed to play some of his trademark long passes despite his relatively new position. Was drawn out to cover for Semedo at times but did an ok job. 6/10.
Romain Saiss
In action for the first time since the draw with Newcastle five games ago and made his debut in a back four. Was lucky not to give away a first-half penalty in this VAR-age, but like his centre-back partner, coped well with little to do. Looked a threat from set-pieces as well. 6/10
Marcal
Making his fourth consecutive Wolves start in a Wolves shirt, and linked up very well with Neto on the left hand side. As would be expected from a man adept at playing as a central defender he looked solid, but was fortunate Bertrand Traore had strayed marginally offside before he bundled the Villa winger over in the box. 6/10.
Leander Dendoncker
Had a decent game, but really should have scored one of two good chances. Had a first-half effort parried by Martinez, before the Argentinian denied what should have been a Wolves opener when Dendoncker met Neto’s cross from close range. Was withdrawn for Neves in Nuno’s only change. 5/10.
Joao Moutinho
Had another good game and looks to be Wolves’ biggest beneficiary of the new system. Won the ball back to set away multiple Wolves counter attacks and passed the ball well. However, his red card was needless and means Wolves will now miss one of their best players for the visit of Chelsea, which looks even tougher now. 6/10.
Adama Traore
Had a below-par game. As always, the Spanish international drew a lot of fouls and yellow cards from Villa defenders but struggled to make a difference in the final third. Created just one chance of note, which Dendoncker had saved by Martinez just before the break. With the absence of Jimenez certain to be long-term, Traore needs to up his total of goals and assists, which currently stands at zero for the season. 5/10
Daniel Podence
One of few Wolves positives. Created problems galore for the Villa defence, played Silva through for their best chance of the game and had a couple of shots on goal himself. Like Moutinho, Podence has impressed in his number 10 role, and has been Wolves’ best player in recent games. The best player in gold and black. 7/10.
Pedro Neto
Another good game for the young winger. Set up multiple goalscoring opportunities for Podence, Dendoncker and himself, as he fired just past Martinez’s far post. Another player Wolves will have to turn to without Jimenez’s attacking output, but Neto looks more than capable of providing it. 7/10.
Fabio Silva
Had a promising first Premier League start. Linked up well with Neto and Podence, which we haven’t really seen in most of his previous appearances, and was incredibly unlucky not to find the net when he was played through by Podence but his shot came back off the post. Has considerable shoes to fill, but made a fairly good start. 7/10.
Ruben Neves
Was introduced in the 80th minute, but made little impact on proceedings. 6/10.
James Wynn is part of the Talking Wolves editorial team – you can follow him on Twitter here.