Why Toti Gomes could be Wolves’ most important player against Fulham

Wolves are back in Premier League action on Saturday, with Fulham the opponents at Craven Cottage.

Gary O’Neil got his first win of the season against Southampton before the international break, and Wolves have simply got to follow that up with another positive result.

It will be a tough game though against Fulham. Marco Silva’s side have been flying high this season, and currently sit in seventh place and one point off the top four.

Fulham bought well in the summer, and look like they could potentially threaten for European football next year.

Arguably, they are where Wolves need to be right now – and it’s interesting to see that Adama Traore has played a big part in their success so far this season.

Toti Gomes must bring his A-game against Fulham and Adama Traore

There is a strong possibility that Fulham will be starting with Traore on Saturday.

He didn’t start either of their last two games against Crystal Palace and Brentford, but Traore did start Fulham’s first nine.

So far, he’s scored one goal and made three assists. Had Traore taken his chances against Manchester City recently – he could have had a hat-trick – then a lot more people would be talking about him.

But Traore is still a major threat, as Wolves fans obviously full well know having watched him for five years at Molineux.

Ahead of Saturday’s game, there’s an argument to say that Toti Gomes could be Wolves’ most important player for O’Neil.

Traore tends to play from the right side and that will be Toti’s territory – and he needs to ensure he makes it his territory.

None of Wolves’ other central defenders would be able to come close to matching Traore for pace. Toti is the quickest and he’s also physically quite strong, making him the ideal person to deal with Traore.

A test for Toti

There is potential for Marco Silva to throw a curveball and play Traore from the left, but Nelson Semedo is on that side for Wolves and the Fulham boss may not like that match-up.

If Traore does play on the right as usual then it will be so vital for £900,000 star Toti to nullify the Spaniard.

Fulham obviously have other threats in their team such as former Wolves striker Raul Jimenez and new signing Emile Smith Rowe.

But Traore is probably the biggest in terms of the destruction he is capable of causing. He has the potential to be unplayable and for that reason, Toti will be so key at Craven Cottage.

Traore will be determined to perform well against his old side to perhaps show them what they’re missing.

Keeping his involvement to a minimum would be most welcome if Wolves are to take points.

Toti has started to improve for Wolves after a difficult start and hopefully, the Portugal international will be somewhere near his best on Saturday.