Wolves avoided defeat to rivals Aston Villa with a 0-0 draw at Villa Park, but Nuno’s men could quite easily have left with all three points as Conor Coady and Romain Saiss spurned two excellent chances in the second half. It was certainly a game of two halves, with Villa having the better of it in the first, and they could quite easily have had two goals themselves after Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa both saw their efforts come off the crossbar. Wolves were much improved in the second half, but it was the familiar frustrating tale of the season as Wolves failed to perform for ninety minutes and suffered once again as a result.
Rui Patricio
Lucky to see the ball come of the bar twice in the first half but in truth he could do little about either strike. Was largely untroubled for the remainder of the game and commanded his area well as Villa were restricted to long balls into the box with Wolves improving as the game progressed. 7/10
Leander Dendoncker
Yet another poor performance from Dendoncker who would certainly benefit from playing in his more familiar midfield position with the return of Wily Boly imminent. Dendoncker was caught the wrong side of Ollie Watkins on numerous occasions in the first half, including when the Villa striker hit the woodwork from range. 4/10
Conor Coady
Commanding at the back and now a goalscoring presence in the area, just what has happened to Conor Coady in the past week? His first chance was perhaps unlucky as he kept his diving header down as his effort came of the post, however he really should have done better with his second effort as Willian Jose’s scuffed strike fell to the feet of Coady, but he failed to beat Emi Martinez from close range. 7/10
Romain Saiss
Like Coady, Saiss fulfilled his primary duty and was excellent in Wolves defending crosses from out wide and from set pieces, something that Nuno’s side have struggled with the absence of Wily Boly. However, he will be kicking himself not to have won the game for Wolves as he skied the rebound of Coady’s header from a yard out. It really did seem easier to score. 6/10
Nelson Semedo
Semedo’s performances reflected that of the team in that he started poorly and was caught out of position on numerous occasions, with Villa clearly targeting the Wolves right hand side. However, Semedo grew into the game and posed a threat down the right-hand side in the second half as Wolves searched for a winner. 6/10
Joao Moutinho
It was a poor and ineffective afternoon from Moutinho, who was far from his best at Villa Park. A number of his passes went astray, many of which were simple passes in midfield. He also wasted possession in good positions, with his usual magic on the ball not on display. 5/10
Ruben Neves
A solid afternoons work from Ruben Neves who helped Wolves gain a foothold in midfield after a poor start, winning the ball back on various occasions and aiming to get Wolves on the front foot. However, he did little to impact the game in the final third as he has done to great success in recent weeks. 6/10
Jonny Otto
Jonny’s first appearance since returning from injury without being substituted and he certainly seems to be back to his best, much to the relief of Nuno and his teammates. Jonny offered an assured presence at the back, with hardly any of Villa’s attacks coming from the Wolves left hand side. He had little impact on the game going forward but his confident and consistent defending has certainly been missed this season. 7/10
Pedro Neto
Yet again Wolves’ main route to goal, and in the first half especially it was very much ‘Neto or nothing’. He had little joy in front of goal but was involved in almost every dangerous attack the away side had, including a one-man counter attack where he forced a good save from Emi Martinez, getting Wolves back on the front foot. 7/10
Willian Jose
It was an afternoon of familiar frustrations and Willian Jose was no exception. He once again was effective at helping Wolves keep possession and was often seen extremely deep collecting the ball, but he offered nothing going forward. His movement in the area seems to be on a completely different wavelength to Neto and Traore, which goes some way to explaining why he is still yet to have a clear-cut chance in a Wolves shirt. 5/10
Adama Traore
Did not get into the game as much as he would have liked as Villa had clearly worked on limiting his space and time on the ball. Not for the want of trying as Traore had various moments in central areas but he was not amongst the goalmouth action during this stalemate. 6/10
Subs:
Fabio Silva
Wolves’ only substitute and he once again provided energy and enthusiasm to the Wolves front line, and certainly helped Wolves press higher up the pitch, forcing mistakes from the Villa backline. He seems to have some confidence back and should be worthy of a start against Liverpool at Molineux next week. 6/10
Ciaran Barker is part of the Talking Wolves editorial team – you can follow him on Twitter here.
