Ruben Neves: Player Rating and Performance v Everton

Wolves put Everton firmly in their place with a comprehensive 3-0 home victory on Sunday, with Raul Jimenez, Leander Dendoncker, and Diogo Jota all getting on the scoresheet.

The man of the match, however, was Ruben Neves, who put in a masterful performance in the middle of midfield.

What was Neves' overall display like?

📷 Match Snapshot

Wolves were certainly not up against much this weekend as they played an Everton side who were, according to club captain Seamus Coleman, admittedly shocking.

But the inept performance of the away side was partly due to their inability to take hold of the game in midfield, with Wolves bossing those areas.

Carlo Ancelotti attempted to pack the central area by adopting a five-man midfield with three players featuring centrally, but his players failed to adapt, and simply came up short against a Wolves side who have played the same 3-4-2-1 formation the entire campaign.

Neves and Dendoncker may have been outnumbered in the middle, but it never showed.

With 106 touches, Neves had the third-most of any central midfielder in this round of Premier League fixtures, behind just Jorginho and Dani Ceballos, while he completed 82/92 passes to team-mates, with 15 of them being sent into the final third.

A ⏱️ 74' Throughout the game, he displayed his range of passing, and it was via a glorious ball floated over the top of the Everton defence from a deep position on the right which was saw him record an assist for the third and final goal for Jota.

Wolves 3-0 Everton: Full Player Ratings and Statistics

Nobody from the Everton midfield could really get near Neves, as he won 5/7 duels and 4/5 tackles, as well as making 11 ball recoveries and three interceptions.

Overall, his contributions earned him a 9.6 FC Rating.

〽️ Rating Week-on-Week

✔️ IMPROVEMENT

In his last match, Neves and Wolves as a whole were not at the races against Sheffield Utd, eventually succumbing to a 1-0 loss.

The Portuguese earned a 6.5 FC Rating for his performance against the Blades, with his outing versus Everton representing a significant improvement to 9.6.

🗝️ Key Stats

What Next?

There are just six points separating Chelsea in third and Sheff Utd in seventh, with Wolves among the pack sandwiched in between.

So, there is still all to play for in the race to qualify for the Champions League, and should Wolves manage to do it for the first time in their history, Neves will have played a pivotal role in the achievement.

Next up for them is an away trip to Burnley this midweek.

officialfootballcritic

Follow @criticfootball_

Rúben Neves

N/A

Wolves

72

Everton

76

Man Utd

77

Chelsea

90

Sheffield Utd

60

Leicester

59

Premier League