Is Wolves’ Matheus Cunha Under-Appreciated? – Deck Original

Despite Wolves’ relatively lacklustre start to the season, one player who has been impressing universally is Brazilian forward Matheus Cunha.

An underrated player with bags of ability, it seems apt that he is finally getting his flowers this season. 

It took Wolves until their 11th game of the season to secure their first win in 2024/25, but the club’s one silver lining has been the seven goals and three assists already provided by their number 10.

Now out of the relegation zone after back-to-back victories, it seems pertinent to examine whether Cunha flew under the radar last season, or if he has improved even further in the current campaign.

Matheus Cunha’s finishing has improved drastically

Wolves’ talisman managed 12 Premier League goals last season, but has already notched seven before December of this term. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the statistics also show the extent to which Cunha’s shooting has improved.

The table below compares some of the Brazilian’s shooting statistics last season with the 12 fixtures to which he has contributed this year.

The figure in brackets demonstrates the percentile into which Cunha’s figure falls among the other frontmen in the league.

Although this season’s stats appear lower than the last, it is their relativity to the rest of the league’s forwards that demonstrate the attacker’s improvement.

Despite Wolves’ shoddy results, Cunha is better than at least 60% of Premier League strikers in all three key areas. His Expected Goals per 90 minutes is the most striking figure, which has seen a percentile increase of over 30%.

Essentially, Cunha’s movement and quality of shooting have both greatly improved compared to the rest of the league.

He finds himself more frequently in positions to score, and executes shots with excellent precision.

This was demonstrated in Wolves’ 4-1 demolition of Fulham, where the former Hertha Berlin man scored a peach of a goal from outside the area, as well as a deft finish from an exquisite Mario Lemina through-ball.

In short, Cunha’s finishing has seen a marked improvement on last term.

Matheus Cunha contributes greatly to Wolves’ build-up play

A part of the Brazilian’s game that remains often under-appreciated is his contribution to the build-up play in Gary O’Neil’s side.

Cunha has registered 50.9 touches per 90 minutes, which is truly astounding for a player operating in a wide forward role. For reference, this is only four less than Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, who is being deployed as a traditional attacking midfielder.

Cunha’s main threat is his ability to find pockets of space in which to operate, moving between the lines to act as a second striker but also an attacking midfielder, disrupting oppositions’ defensive shape.

In tandem with his improved finishing ability, this has evidently become a rather potent combination.

Matheus Cunha’s role has changed this season

Potentially part of Cunha’s development this season has been a dynamic role change that has seen his status in the team alter.

Below is a table of some of Cunha’s more creative stats this year compared to 23/24.

As one can observe, in spite of less successful dribbling and fewer passes made per game, the number of chances Cunha creates has sky-rocketed.

This can be put down to a change in tactics for the player. A shift to a more direct approach has seen Cunha take the reins of being the team’s primary creative outlet.

He is now tasked with providing and finishing chances, being less successful overall, but capable of finding killer balls that can unlock a team at any moment.

Rather than just acting as the glue that holds together the Wolves frontline, Cunha defines the team, able to produce moments of brilliance that turn the game on its head.

Essentially, less time on the ball, better movement and more incisive passing have all seen Cunha’s output increase to even higher levels than last year, which will help Wolves greatly in the long-run.

So, has Matheus Cunha been overlooked so far?

While it would be tough to say that Cunha has been truly overlooked thus far, there is certainly an argument that he has made a marked improvement this season.

Seven goals and three assists mean that he is already over halfway towards beating last season’s tally with only 12 games played.

Wolves had also endured a noticeably challenging start to the campaign, but an easing of their fixture difficulty has already begun to see their results improve.

The red-hot form of Cunha has no doubt contributed to this success, and the £44 million signing of the former Atletico Madrid man could quickly turn out to be a bargain if he keeps this up.