Wolves may have lost against Manchester United on Thursday night, but Gary O’Neil will have learned a lot about his side ahead of Sunday’s trip to Chelsea.
Wanderers weren’t at the races in the first half against Man United as Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund gave the visitors a two-goal lead.
Gary O’Neil would have ordered his players to give more in the second half and they showed their fighting spirit by mounting a comeback.
After Scott McTominay scored to make it 3-1 following Pablo Sarabia’s controversial penalty, Max Kilman and then Pedro Neto got Wolves back on level terms before Kobbie Mainoo broke their hearts with a superb 97th-minute winner.
Defeat did end Wanderers’ seven-match unbeaten run in all competitions, but one positive to come from the match was the return of Rayan Ait-Nouri, who played his first Premier League match since the end of December.
How did Rayan Ait-Nouri perform against Man United?
Once hailed by journalist Tim Spiers as “phenomenal”, Ait-Nouri has been a huge miss for Wolves since jetting off on AFCON duty with Algeria.
The 22-year-old has become a driving force down the left flank under O’Neil and while Matt Doherty has covered well for him in his absence, it only feels a matter of time before he returns to his wing-back spot.
He replaced the Republic of Ireland star for the last 36 minutes of last night’s match and gave a solid account of himself, in a display that would have pleased Wolves supporters.
Ait-Nouri attempted three dribbles, completed 90% of his passes and made one cross in his cameo, as per Sofascore.
With his ability to drive forward and play with no fear, Wolves rediscovered their attacking spark when he was on the pitch and O’Neil must consider starting him against Chelsea on Sunday.
Why Ait-Nouri should start against Chelsea
Doherty has performed well in the Algerian’s absence, but he showed last night that Wolves are far more balanced when Ait-Nouri is used in that position.
Not only does his left foot suit Wolves more, but his powerful running style and injection of pace are two attributes that the former Tottenham man is unable to offer.
In a match against Chelsea where O’Neil’s side will expect to have much less of the ball, they have to take advantage of their pace on the counter-attack.
The likes of Neto and Matheus Cunha have thrived when given acres of space to run into and they showed against United how dangerous they can be in transition.
Add Ait-Nouri into the mix instead of Doherty on Sunday, and Wolves can have so much more joy down the left flank as they aim to complete a league double over Chelsea for the first time since the 1974/75 season.