After a poor run of form which had seen us lose back to back games against Huddersfield and Cardiff, Wolves have bounced back in some style defeating both Chelsea and most recently Newcastle away. The win against Chelsea saw a slight tweak to the 3-4-3 system usually used and saw 18-year-old star Morgan Gibbs-White make his first start behind Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota upfront. He was outstanding producing a performance which stood out against some of the best players in Europe, he also managed to grab an assist for Jimenez’s equaliser. His vision, ability to take the ball under pressure and run with it, gave us something we have missed from the middle of the pitch. He ended up on the bench the following game against Newcastle but so did Jimenez, so I should expect that it was just a rest for the fixtures ahead. I am expecting him to be restored to the starting eleven against Bournemouth as neither Adama Traore or Helder Costa did enough to suggest they will retain their place. At 4.3M, Gibbs-White could become a real bargain in FPL and the perfect fifth choice midfield option.
Now cast your mind back to the start of the season, where I wrote about who to watch out for Wolves wise for FPL and I waxed lyrical about a certain Portuguese attacker. Jota who then was a 6.5M midfielder on FPL was my pick for the most important Wolves attacking player, and against Everton he did manage to grab an assist on the opening day. Jota then went onto to do nothing at all and his price quickly dropped, and he became a forgotten player to many FPL players. Last year’s top scorer seemed to be struggling for confidence and it reflected in his performances. Against Chelsea Jota became the player I always knew he would be in the Premier League as he finally found his feet and scored the winning goal, sneaking in at the back post to convert Matt Doherty’s low cross.
His celebration said it all, but it was his tenacious hounding, taking on all comers and link-up play which really showed that Jota had arrived into the Premier League. Against Newcastle the 22-year-old carried on his rebirth by producing a man of the match performance scoring again and then producing a fantastic run and assist for Doherty’s last-minute winner. Wolves have been short of goals throughout the season thanks to the lack of contribution from our wingers but with Jota now back we should be scoring more goals. Jimenez will no doubt profit off his form too as Jota attracts players towards him with his runs. At just 5.9M now and owned by currently just 1.0% of managers Jota is now a huge differential and a very good one at that. The only issue is that he is currently one booking away from a ban. I have always backed him to come good, so I will be looking to make space for him in my team very soon.