Newcastle United drew 1-1 with Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday after coming from behind late in the game, but not every player impressed at Molineux. Sven Botman was one of them and is clearly still getting used to the Premier League.
The 22-year-old started alongside Fabian Schar at centre-back and was comfortable enough in possession, but he didn’t lay a glove on Wolves’ attackers and struggled to make a tackle or read the game well enough to beat opponents to passes.
Lee Ryder of Chronicle Live gave Botman a player rating of 7/10 and noted that he ‘struggled’ early on against Wolves but did improve as the game went on. Dominic Scurr of Shields Gazette gave the centre-back a player rating of 6/10 and said he was caused problems by Wolves as he’s still getting used to the English top flight.
Against Wolves, Botman played for 90 minutes, had 71 touches, won five aerial duels, completed 90.3% of his 62 passes, failed to make a tackle, had one interception, blocked one shot, made four clearances and gave away one foul.
The uncapped Netherlands defender has made five appearances in all competitions for Newcastle but needs more playing time to get into his stride.
