Wolves 1 Newcastle 1 – What the stats reveal

But with the help of whoscored.com – specialists in the in-depth analysis of football data – let’s have a look at the stats from the 1-1 draw at Molineux.

Dependable Dendoncker

Leander Dendoncker was at fault for one of the goals against Watford on New Year’s Day, and he did not have his best game against Manchester City over the festive period, but the Belgian put in a pretty good showing against the Magpies.

Having come up with the equaliser – meeting Joao Moutinho’s delicious corner and guiding the ball home – he was also very tidy with the ball.

Dendoncker’s pass success rate of 95 per cent was the most of any starter across the two sides.

Conor Coady was the next best with 92 per cent, and then Ruben Neves with 90.

Scoring with his only shot, 24-year-old Dendoncker was at it at both ends of the pitch on Saturday.

Adama’s attacking

Newcastle full-back Jetro Willems was very complimentary of Adama Traore after the game, saying the Spaniard is tougher to mark than Cristiano Ronaldo and the fastest man in football.

Traore, inevitably, had some joy against the Dutchman, having come up with six successful dribbles.

But when you compare it to the 10 he enjoyed against Manchester United and the 15 successful take-ons at Watford – which is a Premier League record – Willems can be fairly pleased with his afternoon’s work.

Speedster Traore also had four unsuccessful dribbles and was dispossessed three times, so while he did cause problems, he was not quite as effective as he has been in other games recently.

Jaded Jimenez?

Raul Jimenez was not at his best, with his header being denied from close range by Martin Dubravka and then seeing his other two attempts fly off target.

The Mexican also failed to win any of his three aerial duels, and he only had a pass success rate of 67 per cent.

He did not get on the ball a lot either, having just 37 touches.

Jimenez seems to be tiring a bit, but with Patrick Cutrone being sold and his replacement not imminent, he may have to grit his teeth over the next couple of weeks.

Saiss loves a header

Finally, Romain Saiss made far more headers than anyone else on the pitch.

The Moroccan has made the transition from midfield to defence seamlessly and while he may not be the most physically imposing, he relishes an aerial duel.

He won eight headers, and the next best in that respect were Matt Doherty and Jonny Castro Otto with three each. Saiss is never one to shirk a challenge.