Premier League

Higginbotham blown away by Neves and Moutinho

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Danny Higginbotham has been blown away by the impact Wolves midfield duo Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho have been making on the team this season.

He says that when either player is in possession of the ball, the side become a much greater threat to their opponents compared to when they are not on the ball – something which he thinks made West Ham unable to stop them Wolves’ 3-0 win over them in mid week.

Higginbotham, who is regularly seen as pundit on Sky Sports, also hailed the tactical switch made by manager Nuno Espirito Santo, who he says changes the formation from 3-4-3 against the bigger teams to a different one against teams outside of the Premier League top six.

The pundit due to this change, predicted Wolves to finish seventh in the Premier League as they looked liked in good stead to be one of the best ever promoted sides.

“Moutinho and Neves make Wolves tick and when they are both able to get on the ball Wolves become a far greater threat,” he said in his Sun column.

“Against West Ham Moutinho made 59 passes and Neves 53, whereas they only made 63 between them against Huddersfield. On Wednesday they had the option of both and West Ham were unable to stop either.

“This switch in formation has been great management by Nuno. And while they will likely go back to 3-4-3 against the bigger teams, this change against those outside the top 6 stands them in good stead to finish seventh to become one of the best ever promoted sides.”

OPINION

It is no surprise in the slightest that Higginbotham has heaped praise on both of these players. The impact they make on the Wolves team on a weekly basis is astounding, and Nuno is no doubt counting his lucky stars that he has two talents like them on the books. Keeping hold of them in the summer will be tough if they maintain these high standards, as top teams will no doubt be sniffing around once they witness their consistency. They are arguably two of the main players who make Wolves one of the best promoted teams there has been in the Premier League – not forgetting striker Raul Jimenez, of course – and they look fully on track to finish in the top ten if they continue at this rate. They did have a slump a couple of months ago, but it looks like they have put that firmly behind them. Wolves should go into any game thinking that they can win, and that includes Everton this weekend.

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