We asked ‘Matt Busby said to Joe Harvey’ to give us his match ratings and player commentary after Wolves 0 Newcastle 0.
Two points lost instead of one point won is the most important conclusion of our trip to basement club Wolves.
On a weekend where Liverpool and Brentford dropped points, Wolves were there to be beaten, but poor finishing and a leggy performance meant we left Molineux with just a share of the spoils and a missed opportunity to climb back up to fifth.
Nick Pope 8
Stopping a few shots that came straight at him, otherwise an uneventful afternoon for our man between the sticks who faced so little pressure from a very insipid Wolves front line that even his footwork couldn’t be questioned today.
Kieran Trippier7
Solid away, had to deal with a nasty cut above his eye from the clumsy Mane, and was lucky it wasn’t that much worse.
Just before the end it came close with a free kick.
Malik Thiaw8
It was tidy at the back and thanks to the German’s calmness we never seemed to be under pressure.
Sven Botman 8
A confident performance from the big Dutchman, who was unlucky to see his effort hit the post towards the end of the first half and the yellow card he received in the 89th minute was certainly one of the yellow cards he received ‘for the team’.
Lewis room 7
A Jekyll and Hyde performance, his distribution was lacking at times and I was surprised to see him lose a few 50:50 challenges.
However, he did well to move the ball forward and provided plenty of support to first Gordon and then Barnes on our left flank.
Sandro Tonali6
The Italian didn’t impose himself and looked leggy as he struggled to chase back when caught in possession or was guilty of giving the ball away.
When he was substituted after 67 minutes, it was no surprise.
Bruno Guimaraes 7
Looked more energetic after the substitutions and registered our first effort on target.
It came close to the death, shortly after he served a great ball for Joelinton, who should have done better.
Joelinton
Bad for goal and although he is combative in the middle of the park as usual, I think his profligacy cost us today.
Harvey Barnes7
He put a lot of decent balls into the opponent’s penalty area, including that one early door when Woltemade couldn’t connect, but was guilty time and again of not getting his man until he switched flanks.
Nick Woltemade5
Like Joelinton he had a few half chances that you would expect a big striker like him to take more of, but unlike big Joe he struggled to get involved and failed badly.
Anthony Gordon 7
Like Barnes, some decent crosses, unlike Barnes, showed more desire to get past his man.
Substitutes
Lewis Miley6
Seemed to be struggling when he came in and was no improvement on the man he replaced, who was poor by his own exacting standards.
Anthony Elanga 6
For once, our Swedish wide guy wasn’t terrible and looked quite lively after he came on.
His confidence must be at an all-time low, so these cameos where he doesn’t look bad are crucial.
Yoane Wassa 5
I didn’t see anything from the former Brentford striker that excited me in a match that was there for the taking when he arrived on the scene. Disappointing.
Wolves 0 Newcastle 0 – Sunday 18 January 2026 2pm
Match statistics
Goals:
Newcastle United:
Wolves:
Possess was Newcastle 66% Wolves 34%
Total shots were Newcastle 12 Wolves 6
Shots on target were Newcastle 2 Wolves 2
Corners were Newcastle 7 Wolves 4
Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 24 Wolves 14
Newcastle team vs Wolves:
Pope, Tripper, Thiaw, Botman, Hall, Tonali (Miley 67), Joelinton, Bruno, Barnes, Gordon (Elanga 67), Woltemade (Wissa 67)
Unused subs:
Ramsdale, Willock, Alex Murphy, Neave, Ramsey, Shahar
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