WOLVERHAPTON Wanderers have always been a progressive club. From their iridescent floodlit friendlies in the 1950s – which created the conceptual space and appetite for official European club competition – to hurtling from the top-flight to the fourth tier in just three years in the 1980s, to their brand-pleasing signing of John de Wolf in 1994, the lads from Molineux like shaping football in their own peculiar way. And they are doing something notable in 2021-22 too, as one of the most goal-absent teams in English league history. A total of 36 goals in 22 games extrapolates out as 62 across the whole season, which would be a record low by an English league side.
A 1-0 defeat to Arsenal on Thursday night damaged Wolves’ vague hopes of reaching the top four a little, although they remain only six points behind West Ham with two games in hand, but the fact it ended 1-0 to the visitors and not, say, 3-2, is important. Bruno Lage’s team had 15 shots, which was more than Arsenal, and twice as many shots on target as their opponents, but they couldn’t find a way past Aaron Ramsdale, even after Mikel Arteta’s side had once again been reduced to 10 men, as per tradition.
For Wolves fans this will have been intensely frustrating; they just want their football club to score more than they let in at the other end, and that’s understandable, but in a season that threatens to fade into beige predictability, with Manchester City apparently winning the league again and Watford and Norwich heading in the opposite direction, the wider football community needs something unusual to rescue 2021-22, and Wolves finishing with a combined total of barely 60 goals in their Premier League is the development we crave.
The current lowest F/A total in an English league season is 66, recorded by Liverpool in 42 games in 1970-71 (which is also the lowest scoring top-flight season in history based on goals per game) and again by Leeds United in 1996-97, under the spartan tutelage of George Graham in his pre-Premiership Plus days. But based on goals per game – as always the fairest method – the sparsest season in the country’s sporting history was recorded by fourth tier Gillingham in 1995-96. Gillingham had been rescued from oblivion in 1995 by Paul Scally, and the Kent businessman quickly appointed a manager who would transform the club’s fortunes almost instantly. That man was Tony Pulis, and that man got the Gills promoted at the first attempt with a record of 49 goals scored and 20 conceded across 46 games. That’s 1.50 per match and must rank as one of the most impressive-yet-barely-known achievements in English league history.
Look under the Wolves bonnet and it’s is clear why their games have not contained many goals. Going forwards they are fourth for expected goals underperformance behind Norwich, Tottenham and Brighton, which is not ideal but also not outlandish. But glance at the other end of the pitch and you see an extraordinary defensive overperformance, with Wolves giving up chances worth 28.1 goals this season but a goals conceded total of only 17. That +11 boost is a long way ahead of the next team (Chelsea on +5) and is, in part, down to the man who is arguably the signing of the season, goalkeeper José Sá. Brought in from Olympiacos last summer, Sa has prevented an additional 4.6 goals, based on xGOT, and is a large reason why Wolves can still harbour thoughts of a top six finish. The counter argument is that his form, and his team’s luck, must change soon, and that they urgently need attacking contributions to rise.
Thursday’s game with Arsenal was the 13th Wolves game this season in the Premier League to contain one goal. Meanwhile, the highest scoring game involving them this season was the (genuine) five goal thriller against Villa. Wolves scored three times after the 80th minute to turn a 2-0 deficit into a West Midlands jamboree, and sparked the sort of celebrations that so angered Ruben Neves when Arsenal players did much the same this week. More of that Villa Park spirit could turn a reasonable season into a very good one for Wolves, but for those of us who remember and cherish and celebrate what Pulis and Gillingham did in the 1990s and who long for a sub-1.50 goals per game season from a club, please Wolves, could you do it with a series of 1-0 wins and 0-0 draws? These things matter.
