Wolverhampton Wanderers are staring into the abyss of Premier League history, threatening to become the competition's most infamous cautionary tale. After 16 matches of the current campaign, the club remains winless, having secured a mere two points from 14 losses and two draws. This dismal form puts them on a direct course to surpass Derby County's unenviable record of the lowest-ever points total of 11, set in the 2007-08 season.
A Statistical Descent into Infamy
The numbers paint a bleak picture at Molineux. With a points-per-game average of just 0.13, Wolves are projected to finish the season with fewer than five points. This would not only shatter Derby's record but fail to reach even half of that total. For context, Derby themselves had six points at this same stage of their historically poor season.
The club has already etched its name into the record books for the wrong reasons, becoming the first team in Premier League history to start consecutive campaigns with 10 or more winless matches. The immediate threat is equalling another grim milestone: a failure to beat Brentford in their next outing would see them match Sheffield United's record 17-game winless start from the 2020-21 season.
From European Dreams to Nightmare Reality
This catastrophic decline is a stark contrast to the recent past. After winning promotion in 2018, Wolves established themselves as a solid top-flight side, enjoying consecutive seventh-place finishes and memorable runs to an FA Cup semi-final in 2019 and a Europa League quarter-final in 2020. Under manager Nuno Espírito Santo, they played with a clear, expressive identity, featuring stars like Raúl Jiménez, Adama Traoré, and Rúben Neves.
However, that successful spine has been systematically dismantled. Over several years, key players including Jiménez, Neves, Traoré, João Moutinho, and Conor Coady have been sold. The summer departures of creative forces Rayan Aït-Nouri and Matheus Cunha, who were involved in 32 of the team's 54 goals last season, appear to have been the final blow. Their replacements have largely been unproven in the Premier League and have failed to make an impact.
A Creative Void and Glimmer of Hope
The consequence of this squad deconstruction is a team utterly devoid of creativity and goal threat. Wolves have scored only nine league goals this season and became the first club since Leicester in 1977-78 to enter December without a single player scoring more than once. Manager Rob Edwards admitted he would be "angry" if he were a supporter after a 4-1 defeat to Manchester United that typified their campaign.
Yet, amidst the chaos, a faint pulse remains. A narrow, heartbreaking 2-1 defeat at Arsenal last weekend, sealed by two own goals including a last-minute winner for the Gunners, showed unexpected resolve. They were minutes from becoming only the second team to take a point at the Emirates this season. That performance, with its improved structure and fight, offers a sliver of hope that they can avoid the fate of Derby's 2008 side, which, as former Ram Robert Earnshaw warns, relegated itself through a collective loss of belief.
The question is no longer about avoiding relegation, but about escaping a permanent place in history as the Premier League's ultimate underachievers. The scramble to prevent that historic crisis is now all that remains for Wolves this season.
