Wolves hope to bounce back from Saturday’s 5-2 drubbing by Chelsea with the chance to continue their 100% win record in this season’s Europa League. Indeed, while it’s been a difficult start to life domestically, the Midlands outfit have looked impressive on the continent and can make a statement by kicking this campaign off with a win.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side beat Crusaders, Pyunik and Torino home and away in their three qualifying matches and will look to continue that winning record in their first group match against Portuguese outfit Braga. Their opponents are 16th in the Liga NOS and have registered just one victory so far, so aren’t exactly in great form themselves.
So, with the boss not blaming their European excursions as the reason for their domestic disappointment, here’s how we think the Portuguese will line-up tonight.
After conceding five goals at the weekend, Willy Bolly must be almost certain to head straight back into the starting line-up after his ban ended. With 3 tackles per game (the highest of any central defender per WhoScored) so far this season, the Frenchman will hope to solidify things defensively alongside captain Conor Coady and Jesus Vallejo.
After coming on against Chelsea, Matt Doherty could take the place of Adama Traore on the right-hand sides Wolves aim to tighten up at the back. A more defensive option than the Spaniard, he could help shores things up, in theory at least. Traore, while impressive in terms of his dribbling ability (no one in the squad beats his 2.5 per game) might be a better option as an impact player, as he was against Manchester United last month.
Going forward, Nuno could explore the possibility of playing Morgan Gibbs-White to add some more creativity to their play in midfield. Indeed, Leander Dendoncker was described as being wasteful in possession by the Express and Star against Chelsea, so dropping Joao Moutinho (who has the highest pass completion rate in the squad at 83.4%) into a deeper position to dictate tempo would make room for the aforementioned youngster, who ranks second in the squad for key passes per game (1.5), potentially affording far more control of the ball.
And up-front, the trusty partnership of Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota will look to further the 11 combined goals they have scored in all competitions so far this season, to ensure Wolves get off to a good start in the group stage.
How would you line up? Join the discussion by commenting below…
