It has been a tricky start for Wolves in the Premier League – but fans have taken heart from the performances of Pedro Neto so far.
The Portuguese has started the season pretty well for Wanderers, which has been great to see after his injury problems.
It has been a struggle for Neto over the past two years or so.
He suffered a broken patella in 2020, and then damaged his ankle ligaments in October 2022.
His career has been stop-start as a result – but he’s looked fairly sharp so far in 2023/24.
And there is a statistic about Neto so far that makes for impressive reading – and it is probably going to interest one of his Wolves teammates in particular…
Pedro Neto is the most frequent crosser in the Premier League so far
According to official Premier League statistics so far, Neto has put in 37 crosses for Wolves.
That puts him top of that category, and with some daylight.
The player in second place is former Wolves winger Ryan Giles, who has put in 32 for his new club Luton Town.
Ashley Young (31), Bukayo Saka (30) and Lucas Digne (29) complete the top five.
That works out at 9.25 crosses per 90 in the Premier League.
And it equates to an output of one cross every 10 minutes (just under) from Neto, which is some going.
Given this rate of getting balls into the box, it is perhaps no surprise, then, that Neto is also joint-leading the assist chart at the moment with three.
Sasa Kalajdzic stands to benefit from Pedro Neto’s crossing
One wonders if Gary O’Neil is now thinking about getting Sasa Kalajdzic into his starting XI.
The Austrian needs to be managed carefully following his serious knee injury.
But he’s appeared in all five of Wolves’ games so far, and has looked pretty good coming off the bench.
He’s helped himself to a couple of goals, including one set up by Neto of course against Everton.
And that combination has the potential to come good again for Wolves.
Kalajdzic is 6ft 7in. He is the tallest outfield player in the Premier League, and he must have been licking his lips seeing some of Neto’s crosses in these opening games.