Newcastle United must be wary of Wolverhampton Wanderers' ability to stifle opponents creative players after executing a plan to perfection at the weekend. The Magpies are set to host Bruno Lage's side at St. James' Park on Friday, a return to Tyneside after playing six of the last seven games on the road.
Wolves come into the tie on the back of a resilient win against local rivals Aston Villa. Lage's side were able to stifle the creativity of Villain's playmaker Philippe Coutinho and will no doubt have similar plans in mind to stop the Magpies later this week.
Newcastle know a return to home soil will give them the much needed lift they need after three defeats on the bounce, but they also need improved performances from their attacking creativity. Allan Saint-Maximin is going through a rough patch and Ryan Fraser has not been as effective in recent weeks.
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Wolves' placed two men between Coutinho and the ball allowing Joao Moutinho and Leander Dendoncker to dictate proceedings at Molineux, and Eddie Howe must find a way to counter Lage's defensive tactics. "It was hard,” Lage told Birmingham Live after watching his side put in a backs against the wall performance in the dying embers against Aston Villa.
“Especially after what happened in the last game. When we concede a goal in the last 10 minutes, the emotion comes a little bit. But I think we did well. The most important thing was that we controlled the game very well.
“We put two men between Coutinho and the ball. They came to press, and every time, we found Joao (Moutinho) or Leander (Dendoncker) free to play. That was the plan, especially in the first half.
“The opposition manager on the bench didn’t have time to adapt or change. The first plan was that, and then after, it was about finding the best players to create solutions to score goals. We were comfortable to control the game with the ball.”
