Wolves are bottom of the Premier League, but what happened against Aston Villa on Sunday has seen the club go top of another table.
Wolves fell to a 1-0 defeat against Villa at Villa Park, with Boubacar Kamara the goalscorer for the hosts.
The Old Gold gave a good account of themselves, but ultimately the quality just wasn’t there.
Wolves had chances but fell short against Aston Villa
Wolves remain stuck on just two points from 13 games, and Edwards still has so many things to fix right now.
The situation is bleak. But against Villa, there were at least a few positives to take.
Wolves fans also felt there were good signs against Villa, and that Edwards is improving things.
But the Wolves boss likely won’t be too happy about one statistic that has emerged following yesterday’s game.
Wolves have conceded the most goals from outside the box
When Traore’s strike hit the back of the net on Sunday, many Wolves fans weren’t even that surprised.
The goal had come against the run of play, and this season, it seems Wanderers have conceded several high quality goals from the opposition – previous strikes from Joao Palhinha and Jamie Gittens in the Carabao Cup springing to mind.
The game between Villa and Wolves was analysed on Match of the Day last night – and the programme flashed up a graphic that does not reflect well on Wolves.
It took a screamer for Aston Villa to break down a resilient Wolves defence 🚀
So far this season in the Premier League, Wolves have conceded eight goals from outside the penalty area.
Kamara’s goal for Villa put Wolves outright first, with Nottingham Forest one behind with seven. Tottenham Hotspur are third with five conceded, and then Leeds United, Brighton and Liverpool have all shipped four long-rangers each.
Another poor Wolves statistic for Rob Edwards to rectify
Edwards obviously needs to try and stop Wolves from conceding goals, and it’s paramount that the Old Gold stop shipping long-range efforts.
With these, the xG is often considerably lower. They simply should not be going in.
Edwards needs to ensure that players are getting really tight to those players loitering on the edge of the box, so that the shot is blocked.
There can perhaps be a bit of sympathy for Wolves with the Kamara goal on Sunday, because Joao Gomes was up the other end of the pitch on the floor, after being fouled by Morgan Rogers. Edwards felt Wolves should have had a foul, as did many fans.
Frustratingly, a foul wasn’t given and Villa scored around 30 seconds later, working the ball to an unmarked Kamara on the edge of the box, where Gomes might have been.
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