Wolves plea to Nuno over Arsenal and the Patrick Cutrone conundrum

Wolves reaction | WWFC threw away a two goal lead in their six goal thriller, having to settle for a point away at Braga

Wolverhampton Wanderers will contest the Europa League knockouts after a 3-3 draw with Braga confirmed qualification.

Wolves threw away a two-goal lead on an extremely wet evening at the Municipal Stadium, but their consolation was a prize in itself.

Here are our findings from Wolves’ latest European away day:

Fans’ plea to Nuno

The 6,000 Wolves fans who crammed into the upper tier in one of the Municipal Stadium’s two stands serenaded Nuno throughout.

Nuno has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal over the past few days as pressure mounts on beleaguered boss Unai Emery.

The Portuguese straight-batted a series of questions about the speculation at his pre-Braga press conference on Wednesday.

And supporters made their feelings on the matter clear with chants of ‘f*** the Arsenal’ and ‘Nuno’s the special one’ added to the playlist during the first half.

As always, Nuno reserved a few words for his supporters in his post-match press conference. “It requires a lot of effort to travel and be here on a night like this to support the team, that’s what makes us proud,” he said.

An opportunity missed

Very few Wolves fans will be concerned with qualifying as runners-up, but an opportunity was missed against Braga.]

Wolves were 3-1 up and top of Group K with an hour played at the Municipal Stadium but defensive work which can be best described as shoddy allowed Braga to seal a point they barely looked capable of.

Unless Slovan Bratislava spring a surprise against Braga, and Wolves defeat Besiktas, Nuno’s side will finish second in Group K and face the prospect of a daunting last-32 tie.

Teams who finish second could well come up against Champions League drop-outs - one of whom will be either Borussia Dortmund or Inter Milan.

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A pretty blatant plan

Wolves will be without star striker Raul Jimenez for the final group game after he forced his way into the referee’s book against Braga.

Jimenez seemed determined to collect the yellow card which would rule him out of the final group match with Besiktas and give him a clean slate ahead of the knockouts.

He kicked a ball away needlessly and rugby tackled his man without achieving the desired result. Referee Alexey Kulbakov eventually booked him for another foul on Joao Palhinha.

Pedro Neto, who had been in full kit and warming up since half-time, was then immediately brought on to replace Jimenez.

Raul’s incredible statistics

Jimenez added to his extraordinary 2019 with three more goal contributions against Braga. As well as heading home Jonny’s cross, Jimenez assisted both Matt Doherty and Adama Traore.

He now has a combined total of 46 goals and assists this calendar year. He’s also scored in his last five games for Wolves and has 15 goals across all competitions this season.

No Premier League player has more club goals than Jimenez this campaign.

The Cutrone conundrum

Patrick Cutrone’s work ethic can never be questioned but Nuno clearly isn’t sold on the striker just yet. Pedro Neto and Ruben Vinagre joined Wolves’ forward line from the bench in Portugal before Cutrone, who hasn’t started a game of note in a month.

The Italian will eventually set Wolves back £20million but Nuno is still working out how to get the best from him.

Cutrone has a clear example to follow in Traore, who was in the exact same position the former AC Milan striker now finds himself.

Traore’s goal against Braga means he’s now scored three and assisted nine this season - a tally which trebles his output in both departments for the whole of last term.

Cutrone’s age and pedigree offers promise, but he needs to offer Wolves a better alternative to Jimenez now.

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