How good is Wolves' Joao Moutinho? The stats reveal all

His dead ball prowess is famed and so it is no surprise that it is reflected in the statistics too as he tops the charts in that genre.

The 33-year-old has the joint most assists in the Premier League from set-piece situations.

Only Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold is stopping the Wolves man from taking the crown as they share four assists from dead-ball scenarios.

Overall, the midfielder is behind striker Raul Jimenez in the assist stakes.

The Mexican’s five assists sees him sixth overall in the Premier League compared to Moutinho’s joint-10th spot.

They are now both on 12 career assists in the top flight for Wolves and could topple Matt Jarvis’s 13-strong record as Wolves’ top Premier League assist king.

And with Saturday’s opponents Norwich conceding 81 chances from set-piece positions, Moutinho could be on course to write his name in the history books.

The trip to Carrow Road arrives at an apt time too, with three of Moutinho’s assists and his first goal in more than a year coming in Wolves’ last seven games.

But away from the flair, it’s his position at the top of the tackling charts that show why he has been such a hit in English football.

His ability to pick a pass, dance past the opposition, win the ball back and intercept in the middle of the park saw him and his midfield partner Ruben Neves steal the show in the 2-1 defeat against Tottenham.

And he is joint fourth in the whole of the Premier League when it comes to tackling after 17 games.

Moutinho and West Ham United’s Declan Rice have made 51 tackles this term so far.

Only Manchester United's Aaron Wan-Bissaka (68) and Leicester City duo Ricardo Pereira (74) and Wilfred Ndidi (72) have made more to date.

Those three all finished in the top five with Moutinho for the 2018/19 season as they prove there is still an art to the physical side of the game.

Moutinho has woven his way into the hearts of the Wolves fans since arriving from Monaco in the summer of 2018.

He won Wolves’ player-of-the-season crown for his performances in all 38 games in their seventh-placed finish last season.

And he’s maintaining that consistency in the middle of the park, cementing his place in history as he helped steer Wolves to the last 32 of the Europa League.

It’s his dead-ball trickery that will fill the highlights reel when his spell at Molineux comes to an end.

But, having just signed a new deal that will see him remain at the club until at least the summer of 2022, he has no intention of hanging up his boots any time soon.

And that can only be good news for the Wolves fans.

For Moutinho, there is still more work to be done, and unsurprisingly he has no intentions of stopping.

He said: “For me, 33 is just a number. When I feel like I can do the performance I want and help the team, it’s good. Where I am now it is important for me to realise I can do my job and help the team.

“That’s the most important thing. If you ask me now, I can play for five more years easily. But you never know what comes in the next year or the next week.

“What I keep trying with my mind is to work hard in the week and and work hard for the game, to be better for other games.

“Fortunately, everything I can say about my career up until now is amazing. I don’t regret anything that I have done.

“All the decisions I have made have been to improve my career and luckily in every club I was in, I managed to achieve something and leave my mark.”

Let’s hope that can be with European glory with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.