There have been plenty of Wolves statistics that have made for grim reading, but there’s one that Fer Lopez might be able to help Rob Edwards rectify.
Fer Lopez came to Wolves in the summer from Celta Vigo, costing around £19 million.
This was a big fee to pay, for a young player who had not long been promoted to Celta’s first-team.
But Wolves got him in, and there were positive feelings early on when Lopez was catching the eye in pre-season.
Unfortunately, Lopez has not enjoyed a particularly good start to 2025/26, and has really struggled for game time.
Under Vitor Pereira, he only made one start in the Premier League and has played 235 minutes in the competition so far.
He’ll hope for more involvement under Rob Edwards, especially seeing the emergence of one poor statistic.
- READ MORE: Predicting Rob Edwards’ first Wolves starting XI to face Crystal Palace after international break
Wolves second-bottom for through balls in the Premier League
According to The Athletic, Wolves are second-bottom this season when it comes to through balls executed.
The Old Gold have played just nine so far, with only Tottenham Hotspur (four) managing fewer.
For context, the team at the top – Arsenal – have played four times as many as Wolves with 40.
Wolves have had a real creativity issue this season and appear to have no clue how to supply Jorgen Strand Larsen at the moment.
But perhaps Lopez could be a solution.
The Spaniard has struggled so far, but one does wonder if he simply needs a run of games. Against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, Pereira hung him out to dry by bringing him into the starting XI for the first time in weeks and shunting him into an alien position.
It was little wonder he made a mistake.
Lopez potentially needs an arm around him and Edwards would likely give him that.
We know he is a creative player. There have been glimpses of it in a Wolves shirt, and fbref data shows he has a shot-creating actions per 90 metric of 5.25. This is the highest of any Wolves forward.
Dave Edwards has previously suggested Lopez could thrive as a sole number 10 for Wolves, so perhaps that is an idea Edwards will consider.
But just nine through balls in just 11 games so far is really quite alarming from Wolves, and Edwards must try and rectify that.
Lopez is not with the Spain U21s over the international break, which means he’ll have the opportunity to impress Edwards at Compton Park and maybe put himself in contention for minutes against Crystal Palace.
No incision from Wolves after big-name player exits
It is perhaps no surprise to see Wolves languishing down in 19th place for through balls.
The team just aren’t creating this season, and there is no doubt that several player exits in the summer really sting now.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 15 |  FulhamFulham | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 16 | -4 | 11 |
| 16 |  LeedsLeeds | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 20 | -10 | 11 |
| 17 |  BurnleyBurnley | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 22 | -8 | 10 |
| 18 |  West HamWest Ham | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 23 | -10 | 10 |
| 19 |  Nottingham ForestNottingham Forest | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 20 | -10 | 9 |
| 20 |  WolvesWolves | 11 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 25 | -18 | 2 |
Matheus Cunha, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Pablo Sarabia were all excellent when it came to opening up opposition defences.
Cunha was more of a ball carrier who liked to drive, but Ait-Nouri and Sarabia were certainly capable of splitting defences with a killer pass. This season, we’ve barely seen anyone do that, with the ball often going out wide and then being crossed in.
If Edwards can somehow squeeze some more creativity out of the current crop, this will clearly give Wolves a much better chance of getting some wins on the board.