Wolves suffered a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City on Saturday – and Julen Lopetegui may now need to call on Daniel Podence to help get things back on track.
Wanderers let slip their lead at the King Power Stadium in frustrating fashion.
Matheus Cunha put Wolves 1-0 up, and Lopetegui’s side looked totally comfortable.
But Jose Sa brought down Jamie Vardy in the penalty area, which allowed Kelechi Iheanacho to score from the spot.
That was the turning point in the game, as Wolves lost their momentum and looked far less dangerous afterwards.
Timothy Castagne scored in the second-half for the hosts and then Wolves just couldn’t breach the Leicester defence.
It was a very frustrating result given how Wolves had started the game.
Wanderers have a quick turnaround to the next game. It’s Crystal Palace up next on Tuesday, and it’s likely Lopetegui will be making changes to his starting XI.
Someone who will do well to retain their place is Pablo Sarabia, who didn’t have much of an influence yesterday.
He had two shots, both of which were off target. And he put in six crosses, none of which found a man. And he had 37 touches during his time on the pitch – that was fewer than eight other Wolves players (via Sofascore).
The Spaniard, 30, struggled to cause issues for Leicester, and he was substituted just before the hour for Hwang Hee-chan.
And against Brentford last week, he probably had the least influence.
He just hasn’t really been able to kick on after his brilliant performance and goal against Fulham earlier this year.
Hopefully he will find his feet soon, but Lopetegui has surely now got to turn to Podence against Crystal Palace.
Daniel Podence should return to Wolves starting XI against Crystal Palace, with Pablo Sarabia struggle to make big impact
It would be very surprising is Sarabia was handed a third start in a row against Palace.
Unfortunately, he just hasn’t cut it in the last couple of games so Lopetegui ought to freshen things up. And he has plenty of wingers to choose from.
But Podence should be his first port of call.
He tends to be better when he starts games as opposed to coming on as a substitute.
Ultimately, Podence is still Wolves’ top scorer this season and is someone that makes things happen, as much as he can frustrate.
Wolves need to respond against Palace, who have proven tricky customers for Wolves in recent times.
The £17 million star will be nice and fresh given his lack of minutes of late, and him starting could really pay off for Lopetegui.