Football FanCast
·31 October 2021
Football FanCast
·31 October 2021
Wolverhampton Wanderers have been dealt an injury blow ahead of their upcoming Premier League clash.
In pre-match press conference comments cited by Express & Star journalist Liam Keen, Bruno Lage revealed that left-back Fernando Marcal will once again be unavailable for selection for the visit of Everton on Monday night, as the 32-year-old is yet to recover from a calf injury which ruled him out of last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Leeds United.
In his tweet, Keen said: “Bruno Lage presser is underway and we start with injury news: ‘Boly is back but Marcal is not ready’.”
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While it is indeed true that Rayan Ait-Nouri impressed while filling in for Marcal in the draw at Elland Road last week, the Brazilian very much appears to be Lage’s first choice at left wing-back, so his absence on Monday is sure to have left the 45-year-old feeling gutted.
While further Premier League game-time for Ait-Nouri will undoubtedly help in the 20-year-old’s development as a first team regular, it would be naive to suggest that Marcal has not impressed over his eight top-flight fixtures so far this season.
Indeed, the £1.62m-rated man has helped his side to keep two clean sheets, as well as making 1.5 interceptions, 2.9 tackles and 1.9 clearances and winning five duels per game, as per SofaScore.
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These returns have seen the £29k-per-week left-back earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.86, ranking him as Wolves’ joint 11th-best performer in the Premier League.
As such, Marcal’s injury will certainly come as a blow to the Portuguese boss, who will undoubtedly be hoping to put right the disappointment of conceding a last-minute equaliser against Leeds when Everton come to Molineux tomorrow night.