Wolves fans expected a difficult start to the 2024/25 Premier League season.
The fixture list release was not kind to Wanderers, with Arsenal away and Chelsea at home the first two games for Gary O’Neil.
Wolves lost to both, and then played out a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Things do not get much easier in September, with Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Liverpool all to come for Wolves.
Despite a tough start, there have been some positive signs about Wolves in the opening games. The form of new captain Mario Lemina has been really good, and new signing Jorgen Strand Larsen has looked fairly handy and got off the mark against Chelsea.
Wolves have looked very shaky defensively though, although the addition of Craig Dawson against Forest seemed to help. The veteran was solid as a rock against the Reds.
But there is one statistic that has come to light today about Wolves after their first three games – and it actually doesn’t relate to the defence.
Statistic shows Wolves are not getting the ball into the penalty area enough
Last season, certainly in the first half of the campaign, Wolves were brilliant at progressing the ball up the pitch and into the box.
There are several great ball-carriers in this team, such as Matheus Cunha, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, and Wolves had very few issues getting into dangerous positions.
So far this season though, Wolves have struggled to get into the opposition box.
This is indicated by a statistic that The Other 14 posted today on X.
After three Premier League games, Wolves have managed 53 touches in the opposition box, which works out at 17.7 per match.
Only newly promoted sides Ipswich Town and Leicester City (both 34, 11.3 per 90) have managed fewer.
Tottenham Hotspur are top, followed by Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal. Nottingham Forest, managed of course by former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo, sit fifth having had 97 touches in the opposition box (32.3 per 90).
O’Neil must quickly address this
- READ MORE: Football finance expert explains exactly where Wolves stand with PSR after player sales this summer
This stat may have O’Neil sitting a little uncomfortably, although context must be applied. Wolves were dealt a tough start in terms of the fixtures, with Arsenal and Chelsea always likely to make life hard for Wolves.
Wanderers have had to do a lot of defending in the opening games, which has not been ideal. It has obviously meant Wolves have found it hard to get the ball into the opposition box.
We know Wolves have it in them to get the ball into the final third though and hopefully, we do see a change soon.
Perhaps changing to a three-man midfield could help. New signing Andre could come in as the deeper midfielder, allowing Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes to operate more as box-to-box players.
O’Neil could also consider calling on more creative players such as Tommy Doyle or Pablo Sarabia to get the ball into the area.
As much as O’Neil has problems with his defence at the moment, he also needs to find a way of getting his side to be more threatening moving forward.