How Nuno Espírito Santo’s System Switch Earned Wolves A Point – Premier League 2018/2019

In a game marred by some horrific refereeing decisions, Bournemouth and Wolves shared the spoils at the Vitality Stadium. The man in the middle, Roger East, got a number of things wrong, including, but not exclusive to, a handball by Chris Mepham in the penalty area which went unpunished, an elbow from Jefferson Lerma which only warranted a yellow card, and awarding a penalty when supposed contact was made outside the area.

Rather than looking at those decisions, we will analyse how Bournemouth and Wolves matched each other pound for pound throughout the 90 minutes and how, ultimately, a draw was a fair result. Admittedly, both Bournemouth and Wolves only scored from their respective goals from the spot. All the same, let’s embark on a journey to find out what happened as the rabid Wolves of Wolverhampton faced the Cherries of Bournemouth.

Team news

Eddie Howe’s side were without Callum Wilson and David Brooks which meant that Dominic Solanke and Josh King had a chance to form a partnership. Also, Mepham came in at centre-back for Steve Cook and the Welshman was involved in a number of incidents throughout the game.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were as you would expect. Ruben Neves, Rui Patricio, and Diogo Jota came back into the side after being rested for the cup win over Bristol City, or in Jota’s case injured