Wolves suffered a shock 2-1 defeat away to Sheffield United on Saturday to gift the newly
promoted side their first win of the Premier League campaign.
Despite Wolves VAR controversy once again taking the headlines, the away side never really got
going at Bramall Lane to suffer their first defeat in five games.
After going into the tie on a good run of form, we have analysed how it all went wrong for
Wolves on the weekend and why it’s important Pedro Neto returns sooner rather than later.
Matheus Cunha and Sasa Kalajdzic disappoint for Wolves
Many had hoped that Wolves’ long-time issues in front of goal may have finally come to an
end with a string of strong attacking displays this season. However, the visitors’ attacking
fold posed little threat to Sheffield United throughout.
Duo Matheus Cunha and Sasa Kalajdzic both had poor games with neither able to have a positive impact on the game.
The two attackers were only able to muster two shots between them, with Kalajdzic having
zero efforts throughout the match.
The striker often found himself isolated up top, with the Austrian only touching the ball 33
times.
However, Cunha was equally poor. The Brazilian played a deeper role, just behind the
Kalajdzic and was unable to provide the vital line needed between the midfield and the
attack.
The Brazilian only completed 70% of his passes, the worst of any outfield starter for the
visitors, while, according to Fbref, he only managed one successful take-on out of six
attempted.
Cunha did little to push Wolves forward in the attacking areas. The majority of his carries
weren’t progressive, with the attacker only moving the ball towards the goal 19% of the
time.
Pedro Neto injury latest as winger big miss for Wolves
Portuguese winger Pedro Neto has been on fire for Wolves so far this season but his injury against
Newcastle late last month clearly left a hole in the visitor’s side.
Against Sheffield United, Hwang Hee-Chan was tasked with stepping up to fill the winger’s
boots as he looked to be the provider rather than the goalscorer.
As a result, the South Korean international made 36 passes in the fixture, his highest in the
league this season while only firing one shot at goal.
His creative spark also paid off with the attacker collecting an assist thanks to Jean-Ricner
Bellegarde’s fantastic first goal for the club.
However, this role came at a cost with the visitors becoming far too reliant on the winger.
45% of attacks and shots came from down the right flank compared to the usual average of
39% and 17%.
This meant Wolves had an imbalanced attacking front line which no doubt helped to cause
their eventual demise.
Wolves will have to find a way to balance their attack with Neto set to be sidelined until after the international break.
Speaking ahead of the Sheffield United defeat, Wolves boss Gary O’Neil said: “He (Neto) won’t be available this weekend or next weekend and then we’ll go into the international break and see how he’s healing.
“I don’t want to put too much focus on it. He’s been incredible this season but there are a lot of other players in a really good space.
“So we need to keep pushing, keep the momentum going and make sure when Pedro comes back we’re still in a good spot.”
Wolves’ Sheffield United defeat just a blip
This meant Wolves had an imbalanced attacking front line which no doubt helped to cause
their eventual demise.
After a string of good performances in October Gary O’Neil will be hopeful that the result is
just a blip.
Wolves have shown multiple times already this season that they are more than capable of
staying up.
With Pedro Neto hopefully back soon as well, the side should regain their impressive October form, but Gary O’Neil will be searching for ways to cope without Neto against Tottenham this weekend.