Willy Boly has been Nuno's defensive glue

Football FanCast

By Billy Meyers

Published Mar 24, 2020

Willy Boly has been the glue for Nuno Espirito Santo and Wolves in defence this season, standing out as their defender of the season so far.

Wolves' backline is littered with excellent performers - it is arguably the department where Nuno Espirito Santo has the most luxury.

The Midlands-based outfit have the likes of Willy Boly, Conor Coady, Romain Saiss, Jonny Otto and Matt Doherty starring on a weekly basis, while Ruben Vinagre, Max Kilman and Oskar Buur wait in the shadows for opportunities - Leander Dendoncker has made 14 appearances at centre-back, although we have excluded him from this list as he has appeared more in centre-midfield with 17 outings.

Kilman and Buur are also excluded, as they have only made three and zero appearances respectively in the Premier League.

Who has performed the best of all these names this season? Let's take a look...

Jonny Otto - 6/10

Starting from left to right, the former Atletico Madrid man has been solid. The Spaniard ranks highest in tackles per game in the Premier League for Wolves with three every 90 minutes, while he also has a goal and one assist in England's top-flight.

Romain Saiss - 6/10

The Moroccan has been solid as always, registering 1.7 tackles, 1.5 interceptions and 3.7 clearances per game.

Saiss also has two goals and one assist this season, while he earned praise from journalist Nathan Judah after a recent draw against Brighton.

Conor Coady - 7/10

Club captain and ever-present, Coady has been just as reliable as always this season.

The ex-Liverpool man has started all 29 of Wolves' Premier League games, helping them into sixth, while he completes an eye-catching seven long balls per game with those trademarks cross-field pings.

Willy Boly - 9/10

For us, the Frenchman is Wolves' defender of the campaign, despite only making 13 Premier League starts this season.

Boly was missing for a chunk of the campaign with a broken fibular, and Nuno's side only kept one clean sheet in his absence. However, upon returning to the XI in the 0-0 draw against Manchester United - Coady praised him after full-time - Wolves went on to keep five clean sheets in eight games with their colossus back in action.

That proves just how important the 29-year-old is to Nuno, and makes him the club's standout defender of the season.

Tellingly, he also has two WhoScored Man of the Match awards - the third-most of any Wolves player - despite his lack of appearances.

Matt Doherty - 8/10

Once again, the Irishman has proven to be worth his weight in gold as an attack-minded wing-back.

Doherty has four goals and one assist to his name this season, including one well-hit winner against Manchester City to secure a 3-2 win for Wolves, having been 2-0 down at one point.

Ruben Vinagre - 5/10

The 20-year-old has made 13 Premier League appearances this season, but he still has a lot to learn.

He has been given chances in Jonny's absence with a foot injury, although he was criticised by supporters on Twitter after a recent draw against Brighton, in which they felt he didn't do enough.