Wolverhampton Wanderers head into their next Premier League contest confident they can upset the AFC Bournemouth apple cart on the road, having been very unlucky to come away from their last clash at Anfield empty-handed.
Indeed, Vitor Pereira‘s Old Gold ended up accumulating a mightily impressive 16 shots on goal against Arne Slot’s complacent Reds, with Matheus Cunha unfortunately the only goalscorer in the narrow 2-1 loss.
When Cunha isn’t sparkling for his still relegation-threatened outfit, there isn’t too much firepower in the rest of the striker spots, with both Jorgen Strand Larsen and Hwang Hee-Chan currently out injured.
Even when the latter of those two names is fit, he isn’t always firing on all cylinders, as the South Korean suffers from a lack of confidence in front of goal whilst the Brazilian seemingly always has that midas touch.
Hwang’s woes in front of goal
It has been another stop-start season for the 29-year-old at Molineux so far, with 55 days of action missed by the injury-prone number 11 to date due to stays in the Wolves treatment room.
Whilst Pereira has confirmed he could be back to full fitness soon, his drab goalscoring form when he has been available means he is unlikely to break back into the starting lineup anyway.
Across 17 Premier League appearances to date, Hwang has only managed to bag a lacklustre two strikes, which will be a disappointing return for the ex-RB Leipzig man, when you consider his standout output during the 2023/24 campaign saw him fire home an impressive 13 goals.
But, the 5 foot 10 ace – away from this sterling individual season in isolation – has regularly struggled to be a consistent source of strikes for the Old Gold, with only ten more goals coming his way across his other two forgettable campaigns.
|
Hwang’s numbers at Wolves by season |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Games played |
Games missed through injury |
Goals scored |
|
24/25 |
21 |
7 |
2 |
|
23/24 |
31 |
16 |
13 |
|
22/23 |
32 |
6 |
5 |
|
21/22 |
31 |
10 |
5 |
|
Sourced by Transfermarkt |
|||
To help boost his overly reliant side, Pereira could be tempted to gift this raw starlet some unexpected first-team minutes, hopeful that he might be the best long-term replacement for Hwang.
The Wolves teen who could now replace Hwang
The Premier League side have unearthed some real gems through their academy structure in recent years, with Morgan Gibbs-White’s name sticking out as one notable Molineux alumni.
Whilst Gibbs-White would have to depart the West Midlands to kickstart his senior career, 18-year-old ace Dani Ángel will hope he can explode into life in the senior set-up at Wolves soon without having to seek out pastures new.
After all, Angel won’t be fearful of a bout in the main men’s team having already experienced a “meteoric rise” to be at Wolves today – as football analyst Tom Williams labelled it – with the Spanish hotshot on the books of London-based non-league outfit Clapton FC in 2023.
He hasn’t looked back since, with the teenager finding himself in a rich vain of goalscoring form for both the U18s and U21s in the Midlands, alongside also winning himself an U18 international call-up.
|
Angel’s G/A record at Wolves |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Age bracket |
Games played |
Goals scored |
Assists |
|
U21s |
17 |
5 |
1 |
|
U18s |
19 |
10 |
1 |
|
Senior team |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Sourced by Transfermarkt |
|||
Angel has picked up a healthy 15 strikes from 36 appearances to date, meaning his time to shine in the first-team picture could soon be on the horizon if Pereira is prepared to be brave in the striker department.
Whilst it’s unlikely that he would make an instant impact if he was gifted this chance, the 18-year-old is definitely one to keep an eye on from a Wolves persuasion, especially if Pereira’s patience with the stricken Hwang becomes thinner.
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