Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters will have renewed optimism now that their lowly side can beat the Premier League drop with Vitor Pereira picking up some standout results since taking on the reins.
Indeed, the Portuguese manager has inspired his relegation-threatened troops to pick up some big victories against the likes of Manchester United and Aston Villa since replacing Gary O’Neil, with the Old Gold now up to 17th after looking doomed to be heading for the Championship under the previous regime.
Whilst Pereira will be happy with the fight on display for the most part, he will perhaps want a little more from the attackers at his disposal, away from Matheus Cunha continuing to dominate the spotlight.
The numbers behind Wolves’ attack this season
The ex-Al Shabab boss has had to deal with some bad luck in the striker department when it comes to unfortunate injuries, with one of his stars up top – alongside Cunha – in Jorgen Strand Larsen now sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Before this unwanted development, the Nordic sharpshooter was up to a sizeable seven goals in the Premier League for the season, with Cunha only boasting more top-flight strikes in the Old Gold camp at 11.
With Larsen now out, it has exposed the lack of attacking quality in the striker positions, with Hwang Hee-Chan way off the boil so far this campaign.
From 21 appearances across 2024/25 to date, the out-of-sorts South Korean only has two strikes next to his name, which is a disappointing return so far considering he managed to bag 12 top-flight strikes during a far more successful 2023/24 campaign.
Whilst Pereira laments his striker options, there is a former Old Gold hero who is currently outscoring both Hwang and Larsen at his current employers.
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The former Wolves striker who is now outscoring Larsen & Hwang
Wolves have had their fair share of modern-day legends in recent years as the club rose from the doldrums of EFL obscurity to Premier League glory.
One of those faces that is definitely well-liked to this day is Raul Jimenez, with the Mexican a long-standing servant of the club over many seasons before his departure in 2023.
Across five celebrated campaigns in the West Midlands, Jimenez would help himself to a hefty 57 goals and 22 assists, with the now 33-year-old even having to battle back from a serious injury during his goal-laden spell at Molineux to continue to prove his worth.
The Premier League only features three Mexican players – Raul Jimenez (Fulham), Edson Alvarez (West Ham) and Julian Araujo (Bournemouth).
Whilst he is now firmly in the twilight years of his career, the goals haven’t dried up for the Mexican donning his new Fulham colours, with Jimenez bettering both Larsen and Hwang this season in terms of output.
|
Jimenez’s G/A record in the PL |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Games played |
Goals scored |
Assists |
|
24/25 |
24 |
9 |
2 |
|
23/24 |
24 |
7 |
0 |
|
22/23 |
15 |
0 |
1 |
|
21/22 |
34 |
6 |
4 |
|
20/21 |
10 |
4 |
0 |
|
19/20 |
38 |
17 |
6 |
|
18/19 |
38 |
13 |
7 |
|
Sourced by Transfermarkt |
|||
Amazingly, Jimenez is close to eclipsing his Premier League best at Molineux strutting his stuff now at Craven Cottage, with the veteran attacker boasting 11 goal contributions this season in the top-flight to beat Larsen and Hwang’s weaker numbers consequently.
Marco Silva would even describe Jimenez as “incredible” this season when he became Mexico’s highest-ever goalscorer in the elite division, with the ex-Everton boss thankful that Wolves decided to offload the towering 6 foot 3 striker when they did. On the flip side, the Old Gold must regret letting him go.
In an alternate reality, Pereira wouldn’t turn his nose up at having Jimenez in his Old Gold camp, but the popular Wolves boss will just hope the goals keep flowing in big games to come near the foot of the division away from looking back at past attackers.
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