It has not been a good start to the new season for Wolves – and one statistic indicates a real problem for Vitor Pereira.
Wolves are bottom of the Premier League table at the moment, having taken just two points from seven games.
Granted, Wolves have been much improved in recent weeks from a performance standpoint. But it’s still zero wins on the board, which is a real concern.
Wolves defended really poorly in the first four games. But the recent system change has led to Wolves becoming more solid.
Now, Pereira must look at improving Wolves at the other end of the pitch – just five goals scored in the Premier League so far makes Wolves the joint-worst attacking outfit in the division.
And actually, Wolves have the lowest xG of all Premier League sides right now.
But the poor attacking stats do not stop there.
Wolves currently have their lowest shots-per-game ever in the Premier League
Failing to score goals on at least a semi-regular basis in the Premier League is asking for trouble.
In order to stay in the top-flight, teams must carry some attacking threat, as it is unsustainable to just be hard to beat.
Certainly that can help in picking up points. But not being overly threatening up top makes it very difficult to pick up three points.
At the moment, Wolves are nowhere near good enough in the final third.
And as per BBC Sport, Wolves are currently averaging a shots-per-game ratio of just 9.4, which is the club’s lowest ever in the Premier League.
Ultimately, Wanderers just aren’t testing opposition goalkeepers enough. Potentially, this points to a creativity issue more than anything else.
Wolves’ attackers have to step up
There is an argument here to say that Wolves’ attacking players need to step up.
Seemingly at the moment, Wolves are too easy to defend against and must increase the threat level in and around the final third.
Hugo Bueno is playing his part, having created lots of chance from the left side so far.
But people like, Jhon Arias, Hwang Hee-chan and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde could all be doing more.
Pereira is also not without blame for this low shots-per-game statistic.
Fans have urged Pereira to stop switching to a back five system now, believing it to be something that invites pressure in games. Some feel Wolves become more negative in this formation as opposed to playing with a back four.
The Wolves manager has also often overlooked creative sparks such as Rodrigo Gomes and Fer Lopez, who could potentially boost the creativity and help the team to have more shots at goal.