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Are Wolves the dark horses in the Champions League race?

While Manchester City are seemingly romping to the Premier League title, the race for Europe looks set to be wide open right up until the final weekend of the season. With some teams having played a handful more matches than others, the table still has an unusual look about it despite the halfway point having been passed for everyone but Burnley. Manchester United sit fourth heading into the winter break but, four points behind and having played one game fewer than the Red Devils, Wolves are in top form yet they are being ignored. So why isn’t anyone talking about Bruno Lage’s Wolves side as Champions League contenders?

 

Few goals and little excitement

 

Wolves’ current run has gone largely unnoticed, with 13 points from their past five games moving them firmly into the top-four chase in recent weeks. A win at Brentford last time out ensured Wolves went into the winter break on a high, with Chelsea the only side to have stopped them collecting a victory in recent weeks.

But there is no getting away from the fact Wolves are simply not that exciting to watch.

After 21 games, they have only scored 19 times – just Burnley and Norwich City have struggled more in front of goal – but defensively they have been superb. A record of 16 goals conceded means only champions-elect City have been better at the back.

Wolves matches often end in a binary scoreline. They have had goalless draws with Norwich and Burnley – missed opportunities they may regret in May – and they have lost 1-0 five times, including in each of their first three games of the season; an inauspicious start to the Lage era.

When Wolves win it is usually close too, with eight of their ten wins coming by a single goal. Neutrals have few reasons to tune in when Wolves play, but being under the radar suits them and that attention will surely increase as the Champions League run in nears a conclusion..

 

No star quality

 

Part of the reason the presence of Wolves in the chase for Champions League qualification feels a little incongruous is the lack of obvious star power within their squad. There are no big egos.

They have a solid goalkeeper – Jose Sa has seamlessly replaced compatriot Rui Patricio – and the back line is magnificently marshalled by the club captain, England defender Conor Coady.

Hwang Hee-chan and Raul Jimenez have netted just four Premier League goals each to top Wolves’ scoring charts, with Coady and his fellow defender Romain Saiss among the only four other players in the squad to have found the net more than once in the league this term. Hwang – who is on a season-long loan with an option to buy from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig – has not scored since October, while Jimenez’s goal against Southampton was his first since November.

Ruben Neves has been linked with a big move in the past but, while the 24-year-old has an eye for the spectacular strike at goal, much of his work in midfield next to Joao Moutinho is unshowy.

The closest thing to an X factor Lage has at his disposal is mercurial winger Adama Traore, with the Spain international still yet to add consistent end product to the raw materials in his skillset.

Traore has been linked with Tottenham but given he has only started about half of Wolves’ league games this season it would not be a devastating blow if he was to leave Molineux. Yet another Portuguese talent, the 21-year-old winger Chiquinho, has already been brought in.

 

Lage a steady not spectacular leader

 

Lage himself is also something of an unknown quantity a few months after his appointment at Molineux, with the Premier League still yet to reveal exactly what sort of a manager he might be.

The 45-year-old might only be in his second job as a head coach but he has been working in a range of different roles behind the scenes for more than 20 years, including at both Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea City where he was part of Carlos Carvalhal’s coaching staff.

The ex-Benfica boss was something of a surprise appointment, having been out of the game for a year, but bringing him in to replace Nuno Espirito Santo is working well for Wolves so far.

Lage is an unassuming figure and he did not panic when Wolves struggled early on, when some comparisons to Frank de Boer’s doomed time in charge of Crystal Palace were being made after three 1-0 defeats in his first three games. Wolves had arguably been too attacking so Lage tweaked his tactics slightly and their defensive resilience has been their calling card ever since.

Consistent selection has been the foundation stone for Lage’s Wolves, with the same back three selected in front of goalkeeper Sa – Max Kilman joining Coady and Saiss – for 19 straight games before the latter headed away on international duty at AFCON with Morocco.

Saiss will be back soon and Lage will also be able to call on Pedro Neto shortly, so the future is bright for Wolves, who cannot be discounted from the charge for Champions League football.

 


 

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