Wolves 2 Villarreal 1 – Five talking points

Goals from Willy Boly and Raul Jimenez saw Nuno Espirito Santo's team end their summer friendly campaign with a win.

There were a number of positives and negatives from the performance, played out in front of 19,062.

So what did we learn from the game? Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers picks out five talking points.

Fortress Molineux

There was a time not so long ago when playing at Molineux was a curse not a blessing.

In the two seasons preceding Nuno's arrival, Wolves won just 32 per cent of their home matches...under the Portuguese head coach it rises to 71.4 per cent (that's a landslide).

They've lost just twice (to Cardiff and Nottingham Forest) and won 20 of 28 fixtures.

The figure includes the two pre-season friendlies Wolves have played in that time, against Leicester City and now Villarreal, as Nuno has treated them with the importance of competitive matches.

Here, against a team that finished fifth in La Liga last season (but are behind in their preparations as the Spanish league doesn't start until August 18), Wolves impressively came from behind against technically proficient opposition.

Yes, they conceded some glaring opportunities in the first half but overall they were good value for the win.

Their confidence at Molineux could be a key factor in the coming months. They certainly shouldn't be overawed taking on prestigious opposition on their own turf.

The Saiss experiment

Defensive fragility under Nuno has been rarer than a Lord Lucan sighting, but on three occasions they were carved open here and could have found themselves trailing by an insurmountable scoreline at half time.

Romain Saiss' inclusion – and withdrawal at the break – was probably the major talking point of this pre-season clash.

The Moroccan has been a regular in central defence for his country but not for Wolves – and certainly not on the right side of a back three, where the left-footer hasn't exactly looked comfortable during pre-season.

Saiss was by no means the only culpable player here – Ruben Neves made a rare error for one of the chances and Conor Coady and Matt Doherty weren't their normal positionally-savvy selves either.

But what Saiss' switch does more than anything else is remove his protection from defensive midfield. Neves and Joao Moutinho don't have too much bite between them and Saiss' qualities are surely better served there than in central defence where he doesn't quite have the necessary mobility, certainly in the top flight.

A back three of Ryan Bennett, Coady and Willy Boly was the best in the Championship last season. As the old adage goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Pay the penalty

Wolves were awarded six penalties last season.

Leo Bonatini, Helder Costa, Ivan Cavaleiro, Diogo Jota and Conor Coady all scored one each, while Ruben Neves missed one (against Sheffield United).

Neves possesses quite possibly the most outrageously good technique witnessed from a Wolves player in decades, but it's still been an eyebrow-raiser to see him step up to take Wolves' two pre-season spot kicks.

He netted against Walsall without even looking at the ball but here he surprisingly put this one past the post. Perhaps one for Nuno to reconsider.

Talking of Neves, he had an interesting afternoon – defensively impressive and with excellent recycling of possession on the one hand, but a slack pass for a first half chance and a few misplaced passes/shots on the other.

Alongside him Moutinho isn't match sharp yet but showed his class. Wolves should certainly be easy on the eye this season, if nothing else.

Forward thinking

Raul Jimenez replaced Leo Bonatini in the starting XI and scored his first goal in Wolves colours when peeling off his man to tap home a cross from the impressive Diogo Jota (Wolves' standout player here).

Helder Costa again got the nod over Ivan Cavaleiro, who despite some lively performances this summer has remained out of favour this summer. Costa, like the team, had a mixed first half but improved as the game went on and had a hand in both goals.

A decent bet then to suggest the front three against Everton will be Jota, Jimenez and Costa, with Cavaleiro and Bonatini on the bench.

Jimenez looks to have something about him – he's not dissimilar in style to Bonatini and should be a handful. He held the ball up well too and worked his socks off. He certainly suits Nuno's preferred system.

Are they ready?

It's folly to judge solely on pre-season performances but this game was more relevant than any other so far this summer and Wolves do look in decent shape.

Fitness-wise most of them got a full 90 here and training will certainly go up a notch in terms of intensity this week.

There are a couple of holes in the squad (purely in terms numbers Wolves are short of cover at wing back and either central defence/midfield depending on where Saiss plays) but importantly the squad is injury-free and confidence is high.

A starting XI? At a guess Patricio; Bennett, Coady, Boly; Doherty, Neves, Moutinho, Jonny; Costa, Jimenez, Jota. Subs: Ruddy; Batth, Vinagre, Saiss, Gibbs-White, Cavaleiro, Bonatini.

Oh and maybe some guy called Traore.