It was back to winning ways on Friday night. Although it wasn’t an excellent performance, we managed to get the job done.
The result was built on solid foundations as the defence showed that the Tottenham game was a blip rather than a sign of decline.
In attack, Allan Saint-Maximin wasn’t at his best and we didn’t create a lot of clear cut chances. However, the great defensive display meant we could grab the points.
Below we pick out three interesting stats from the game.
0.31 xGC – Lowest of the season
During 2022, we have managed to restrict teams to under 1 expected goal (xG) in six of our 12 Premier League matches. On Friday, we had an xGC of 0.31. This was the second best xGC recorded by any team this weekend. Only Brentford (0.24) recorded lower against West Ham United.
Doubts were starting to creep in about Dan Burn and Fabian Schar after a difficult afternoon at Tottenham. They bounced back and showed their quality on Friday. Fabio Silva and the rest of the Wolves attack struggled to create anything of note.
The best chance came as Silva struck from inside the box, but it was well saved by Martin Dubravka. It was a good stop, but the chance itself was only rated at 0.06 xG.
If we can continue to restrict teams like this, we will be in a great position to win more matches. It looks like Eddie Howe can coach a defence after all…
Bruno 31 pressures, 4 tackles, 8 progressive carries and 0.2 xA
Sometimes the stats tell you something that wasn’t evident when watching the game. However, I don’t think we need stats to tell us how good Bruno Guimaraes was. The Brazilian was the standout individual on the pitch.
It has taken him some time to break into the team, but he should now be one of the first names on the team sheet. Out of possession, he was dogged as shown by his pressures and tackles. He made 31 pressures and 4 tackles during the game, ranking first for both in our team.
These are important stats in Howe’s system and the manager will certainly have valued Guimaraes’ work rate out of possession.
With the ball, he made eight progressive carries. Only Allan Saint-Maximin (9) made more. Bruno also registered the highest expected assists with 0.2, underlining his ability to create chances.
He needs to be a regular starter from now on.
Schar 5 shot creating actions
This one is a little bit of a surprise. Fabian Schar recorded a team-high for shot creating actions, with five. The Swiss international is respected for his ball-playing ability and he is certainly playing his part in the attack.
He is able to launch attacks from deep with his ability to step into midfield and pick passes through the lines. In addition to his passing, he is a threat from set pieces and quite often wins the first ball.
Defensively, Schar has his issues and he can be inconsistent, but this underlines what he brings to the team.
