Wolves played out an eventful 0-0 draw against Leicester which sees them stay in 14th place. Both sides had chances to win the game but ultimately spurned them, ending in a frustrating result for both teams. The draw sees Wolves stay in 14th place but they also stay 12 points clear of the bottom three. I take a look at the players from the Wolves side and how they got on.
Rui Patricio
A solid game again by the ever-present Wolves ‘keeper. Didn’t have too much to do in the way of shot-stopping but was better collecting the ball and looks to have built some decent form.
7/10
Nelson Semedo
Another solid performance but again causing debate with some of his lapses of concentration defensively. Was superb going forward again, deployed in a similar role to Joao Cancelo at Manchester City, he was able to get forward and find spaces in between the lines and make use of the spaces Adama Traore creates and vice versa. Needs to cut out the little mistakes and slips he can be prone to.
7/10
Leander Dendoncker
An injury to Willy Boly meant a return to the back three for Dendoncker. On the whole he was impressive, he looked confident in possession and made sure Wolves didn’t miss the aerial presence of Boly. Almost gave away a goal in the last minute as Vardy stole in ahead of him so he was certainly fortunate.
7/10
Conor Coady
A much-improved performance from Coady in this one. He was beyond poor for the first half in the Arsenal match but put in much more of a captain’s performance here. Resolute in challenges and as loud as ever, he was a big reason Wolves were able to get their clean sheet today and looked to have regained some confidence in his defensive positioning and his distribution. Still not quite up to his best but he showed a better outing here.
8/10
Max Kilman
Probably the pick of the back three in my opinion, like Coady he improved massively on his showing against Arsenal and showed how good he can be. Comfortable with aerial challenges and managing to get some important blocks in, very much the complete centre back performance – not to mention the fact he can play the ball out with his futsal background. A clean sheet only helps his score as he stopped a near certain goal from Harvey Barnes.
9/10
Jonny Otto
So great to see the Spaniard back in the side after such a lengthy period out, and it he showed great promise. Offers the side far more balance and solidity at the back and hopefully will get back to adding more attacking impetus to his game, although with Pedro Neto in the side he might not need to. Didn’t put much of a foot wrong and gives a typical Jonny performance, just a shame he was taken off at the break.
7/10
Joao Moutinho
A more muted performance after his second-half blinder against Arsenal and struggled to dictate the tempo from midfield. Looked a bit too easy to bypass at some point and got into the habit of committing needless fouls towards the end of the game. He should’ve scored early in the second half after Pedro Neto put a chance on a plate for him, but he skied his effort. Him and Neves looked improved as a partnership but he needs to cut the number of passes he misplaces and fouls he commits to get back to his best.
6/10
Ruben Neves
Another superb performance from Mr Consistent. Won the midfield battle almost on his own at points with his work off the ball, kept the team ticking with his 10 ball recoveries and was able to help them attack well in transition. His defensive play was magnificent with five tackles won out of six. His forward passing is what helps Wolves counter at pace, and the defensive prowess helps in increasing recoveries. His attitude and quality have shone through this season, here’s hoping Wolves can keep hold of him.
9/10
Adama Traore
Another game goes by where this man plays well but doesn’t get a goal or assist. If you were to look at his stats you would say he’s gone off the boil, but a lot of it is down to poor luck at times. He was brilliant at getting in behind James Justin and created so many chances to get the ball in the mix. Leicester couldn’t handle him and he could’ve scored in the first half if not for a brilliant block. Just needs someone to finish off the chances he creates and we would be talking about the same player as last season. Just wish he would get up quicker when a decision doesn’t go his way.
8/10
Pedro Neto
The hopes of keeping this guy under the radar seems to be slipping away every week. Another dominant display on his side of the pitch as he made Ricardo Pereira look like he was playing after a night out. He has all the characteristics of a world class winger and showed it here. His pace, strength and decision-making pairs up so well with his technical ability. All this was summarised in that first half run where he beat three or four players and played it across to Traore who’s shot was blocked. More of the same in the second half, even getting the attention of Liam Gallagher. This man could go to the very top. If he can add goals to his game he could very easily be one of the best wingers in the league, but for now we can just enjoy him week in week out and once Willian Jose gets him some assists, we could see Wolves shoot up the table.
9/10
Willian Jose
A disappointing performance from the Brazilian who just couldn’t get into the game. He got into good positions in the penalty area but the ball never fell for him and things didn’t always stick properly upfront. Like Moutinho, the game seemed to pass him by at points and we need more from our frontman if we are to push back up the league.
5/10
Subs
Ki-Jana Hoever
Hoever came on for Jonny at half time and yet again put in a decent display making you forget how young he is with the maturity he plays with. Had a few hairy moments defensively with some heavy touches and being a bit too slow on the ball, but showed more promise getting forward and slots in very well for such a young player, excited to see more from him.
7/10
Fabio Silva
Oh Fabio, why do you do this to yourself? coming on for Jose we were hoping he would make an impact. Like his counterpart, he struggled to make an imprint on the game and the ball was mainly played out wide instead of centrally for him to hold up. He made the unwanted headlines of missing the best chance of the game as he shot his tame effort saved from Kasper Schmeichel after the ball broke to him 12 yards out.
5/10
Morgan Gibbs-White
Nothing to report here really, there wasn’t much he could in three minutes.
N/A
Tom Parker is part of the Talking Wolves editorial team – you can follow him on Twitter here.