Premier League 2019/20: Norwich City vs Wolves – tactical analysis

On last Sunday, Wolves agonizingly lost to Tottenham as the goal from Jan Vertonghen in stoppage time. Nonetheless, this would not stop this ambitious team to keep going. In this round of Premier League, they travelled to the Carrow Road.

Norwich City has been struggling with their performances. Their only three victories in the season came from Newcastle United, Manchester City and Everton. Despite securing a point on Arsenal and Leicester, they were still in the relegation zone. Therefore, they had to fight for any point they could get.

This tactical analysis will show you how Nuno Espírito Santo’s Wolves came back from behind, it is an analysis that focuses on tactics.

Lineups

Daniel Farke played his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation. They had serious injury issues at the centre of defence, as Ben Godfrey and Timm Klose were unable for a long time. Jamal Lewis was knocked, their left-back in this match was Sam Byram. Fortunately, their key attacking players, Kenny McLean, Todd Cantwell, Emiliano Buendía and Temmu Pukki were all available.

Just as the recent games, Wolves played in a 3-4-3 formation. Willy Boly was getting better but still yet to fully recover, Ryan Bennett was on the bench, hence, Leander Dendoncker continued to play as the right centre back. Nuno seldom rotates his squad, they were playing with their strongest team.

Norwich played out from the back

Despite the unsatisfactory results, Norwich still insisted to play in their own style. Farke’s team liked to play out from the back. In the first half, they dealt with the press of Wolves well, with several approaches to move the ball forward. They managed to create some good quality chances in the first half, which their xG in the first 45 was 1.18.

To briefly outlined the defence of Wolves, they could separate into two segments, five players each in the defence. The front five were the players pressing high or forming the midblock. Both wingbacks joint the central defenders to form the defensive line.