This is certainly not a festive time for Wolves fans.
They haven’t won a league match this season, haven’t gained a point since early October, and have failed to score in their last five games.
The only player to score for Wolves since November is Yerson Mosquera, who unfortunately scored an own goal during their 3-0 defeat to Fulham.
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This season marks the first time since 1983-84 that Wolves have not managed to win any of their first 14 matches, and their current streak of five consecutive games without a goal is the longest since their inaugural Premier League season in 2003.
Following Wednesday’s home defeat to Nottingham Forest, Wolves sit with just two points from 14 matches this season, tying for the fewest points at this point in any top-flight campaign.
Should they lose to Manchester United on Monday, it would mark their eighth consecutive league defeat, matching the club’s worst streak from the 1981-82 season and ensuring they finish at the bottom of the table come Christmas.
If they fail to gain any points in their next two festive fixtures against Arsenal and Brentford, they would match Sheffield United’s Premier League record for the lowest points total on Christmas Day (two, in the 2020-21 season).
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Scoring goals has been a major struggle, particularly given that two of Wolves’ three top scorers from last season, Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri, have departed, while the remaining scorer, Jorgen Strand Larsen, is facing challenges with form and fitness.
Yet, there are three Premier League teams with a lower expected goals total (xG) than Wolves’ 12.74 this season.
However, those three teams have managed to outperform their xG, while Wolves are finding it hard to capitalize on the few opportunities they create.
In fact, they have underperformed their xG by the largest margin of any team in the top flight (-5.74), only managing to score on seven occasions thus far.
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This is the first time in Premier League history that a team has entered December without any player scoring more than one league goal.
The prospect of a managerial bounce has quickly faded, as Rob Edwards has yet to see a goal from Wolves, let alone a point or victory.
Having taken the reins for just three matches since his departure from Middlesbrough, Edwards seems to be coming to terms with the reality of Wolves’ struggles, suggesting that his players are now playing for their pride.
“It looked bleak when I arrived,” he commented after the loss to Forest, which marked their 12th defeat in 14 league games.
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“We can’t influence what happens elsewhere. We can only focus on our performance – but we didn’t do our job tonight. We don’t want to go out that way.”
He emphasized that he wants his team to avoid “going out with a whimper,” and it’s crucial that his players heed this message to avoid further unwanted records, reminiscent of Derby’s infamous 2007-08 campaign.
The Rams were relegated with only 11 points, a record low for any season in Europe’s top five leagues.
Derby’s average was just 0.29 points per game for the entire 38-match campaign.
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Currently, with just over a third of the season gone, Wolves are averaging 0.14 points per game.
If this trend continues, they would finish the season with only five points from 38 matches.