Welcome to The Radar. Nick Wright’s Sky Sports column uses a mix of data and his opinion to bring you the most important stories in Premier League. This week:
Woltemade makes a strong start at Newcastle Kostoulas is challenged by Hurzeler. A player to keep an eye on this weekendWoltemade filling Isak’s void his own wayNick Woltemade netted his third header for the season as Newcastle beat Spurs in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup match. The 6ft6in forward is difficult to contain. It’s not just about aerial power.
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Eddie Howe, Newcastle’s manager, was all praise for Woltemade in Friday’s press conference
In only 760 minute, he has scored six goals. This includes two brilliant flicked-finishes. One against Union Saint-Gilloise, and another even better against Brighton. The penalty against Nottingham Forest was struck into the top right corner as if it were a pitching wedge.
This is the right level of versatility for a difficult-to-define player. Woltemade’s physical profile is ideal for a role as a targetman. Newcastle has been able to make more direct passes with his presence, in line the Premier League’s move towards directness.
He’s scored against Wolves, Arsenal and Spurs with headed goals. Woltemade is the only striker to have scored more goals than Gabriel Magalhaes during this season.
He is a great technician, and his new audience is beginning to realize that. He has no problem holding the ball in tight areas. He pulls out wide and drops down deep to link up the play. He can even dribble.
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Watch Woltemade’s spectacular flicked end against Brighton
Ses teammates value his contributions in all areas. Sandro Tonali, after the Spurs’ game said: “He is very big. It is easy for him.”He runs the entire 90 minutes, every time. He plays with the midfielders and defenders. “He is the first defender, and first striker.” Eddie Howe also said he “set a tone” for Newcastle’s pressing. He’s already beloved by Newcastle supporters. His arrival, for £69m from Stuttgart in the summer, having previously been a target for Bayern Munich, has helped to ensure that, so far, at least, the departed Alexander Isak has not been missed.It has escaped nobody’s attention that Woltemade has comprehensively outperformed his predecessor, who is yet to score in the Premier League for Liverpool, his only goal since his record £125m transfer coming in the Carabao Cup against Southampton.
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Woltemade, who has four Premier League goals to his name, is the only striker to have more than 18 Premier League clubs in a transfer window which saw record spending on forwards. Woltemade has scored four more Premier League goals than any other striker signed by Premier League clubs in a summer transfer period that saw unprecedented spending on forwards.
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Woltemade s audacious goal against Nottingham Forest became viral
He is obviously a different kind of player from the man he replaces. He does not create as many chances or as many shots as Isak did last season, but he is a better aerial outlet. He also wins more duels and makes more pressures.
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Woltemade’s heat map shows that he has a wider remit. While Isak focused on stretching the opposition defences by running in behind them, Woltemade was more likely to be spotted further away from the goal, helping both to construct and finish attacks.
Woltemade has yet to adapt to some aspects of the Premier League. Issa Diap and Calvin Bassey abused him, but he was not punished. This led to frustration for the striker. Now, his challenge is to keep up the pace. Woltemade is the Premier League’s top scorer with four goals out of four shots. Add his goals from the Champions League and Carabao Cup, and it’s six of six overall.
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Woltemade scored the sixth goal of his season in the Carabao Cup defeat over Spurs
This is a high number of goals for a player who has only had chances that were worth 3.46 expected. It suggests a possible reversion to mean. Woltemade’s actual goal total can easily be higher. In the match against Nottingham Forest he hit the crossbar from close range and struck the inside of the post. Newcastle’s match against West Ham at the London Stadium is live on Sky Sports this Sunday. The Hammers are a team who can’t defend crosses and corners.
Sunday 2nd Nov 1:00pm
Kick-off 2:00pm
Newcastle will need to give him more scoring chances. Jacob Murphy, Harvey Barnes, Anthony Gordon and Anthony Elanga have all scored just one goal in the Premier League this season. They will need their wingers to contribute more goals too, with Jacob Murphy, Harvey Barnes, Anthony Gordon and Anthony Elanga having only found the net once in the Premier League between them so far this season.But in Woltemade right now, they have a player giving them exactly what they need, filling an Isak-shaped void, contributing a lot more than just goals, and, two months into the season, winning the battle of the Premier League’s new No 9s.Hurzeler pushing KostoulasFrom Newcastle to Brighton, where it has been a slower start for Charalampos Kostoulas, another of the Premier League’s newly-signed strikers having joined from Olympiakos for £31.4m in June.The 18-year-old came with a reputation as one of Europe’s most exciting young frontmen and finally earned a first start in Brighton’s Carabao Cup tie against Arsenal on Wednesday having scored his first goal from the bench against Manchester United.
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Charalampos kostoulas scored the first goal of Brighton’s season against Manchester United
It did not last. Hurzeler, citing “physical reason” at the end of the half-time break, withdrawn Kostoulas from the Emirates Stadium.Brighton’s manager said that the youngster must adapt to Premier League demands and the intensity. Hurzeler praised the performance of the youngster. He said, “He played well.” His ruthlessness to remove him brought back memories of his comments about Carlos Baleba, last week when he gave Sky Sports an insight into how he manages his players.
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Fabian Hurzeler pushes Kostoulas in order to get the most out of him
The 32-yearold stressed the importance of “honest criticism” after being firm with Baleba about his performances, following a summer full of transfer speculation. Hurzeler took him off three times at halftime this season. “Carlos can’t improve if he just gets claps and compliments from the outside,” said he. The striker must remember, even if he feels uncomfortable with the treatment, that his teammate seems to have benefited. Baleba, Brighton’s star player against Arsenal, was the best in the first-half, dominating midfield and showing the potential Hurzeler wants to unlock. Player Radar: Who to watch out for? Bournemouth is not worried about the absence of Dean Huijsen. Veljko Milosavljevic is another young star at the centre-back position. The 18 year old Serb is pushing for Erling Haaland to face Manchester United. City Live Radar: What is on Sky this Weekend? FootballSky Sports Premier League & Main Event will begin coverage at 12.30pm, ahead of kick-off time of 2pm, for the Super Sunday match between West Ham and Newcastle. CitySunderland host Everton at 8pm on Monday. Football. Last week’s column focused on Tottenham’s problems playing through the midfield, Rodrigo Bentancur’s performance and Joao Palhinha. The column also looked at Bruno Fernandes’ incredible record for Man Utd, ahead of his 300th match.
2025-10-31 10:00:00
