Many Wolverhampton Wanderers fans were in jubilation after yesterday’s victory over Aston Villa and surely Adama Traore was too.
Part of the reason was that Aston Villa gave Traore his first taste of English football.
Another big reason was that the Spaniard was pivotal to Wolves’ victory, and the statistics back it up.
According to FBRef, in yesterday’s game, Traore completed the most dribbles (7) with a 100% success rate.
He terrorised his former club who did not know how to handle him.
A case in point early on was his swashbuckling run from his own half. Traore beat four players but had his shot stopped by Emiliano Martinez.
However, when it counted, Traore was a really potent threat also.
It was his dribble that led to the corner which eventually resulted in Wolves’ first goal.
Sadly for Villa, Traore’s running never stopped. It was another dribble which won Wolves a free kick in the last minute of injury time.
Ruben Neves duly scored the deflected winner.
Traore should start against Leeds
In addition to leading the dribbling statistics, Traore’s goal-creating actions (4) and shot creating actions (2) were also the highest out of any Wolves player during the game.
Whilst the Spaniard shone, his forward partner Hwang Hee-chan struggled.
The former RB Leipzig player gave the ball away for Villa’s second goal and was quiet throughout the game.
With Raul Jimenez expected to return to the starting line up next weekend and Daniel Podence surely to be involved following his impressive cameo, it leaves just one spot.
That is likely to be contested between Francisco Trincao, Hwang and the former Barca man.
However, Traore’s stellar display should make him favourite to start against a side who have reportedly shown interest in him previously.
It was a timely return to form for Traore, after being omitted from the starting line up for the past two games.