Eddie Howe has high hopes for his latest signings, but called for “understanding” ahead of Newcastle United’s game against Wolves on Saturday.

Howe’s side were held to a goalless draw away at Leeds United last time out, and have failed to score in two of their three games so far this season.

However, with the Alexander Isak transfer saga now concluded, the Magpies will be looking to their new signings Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa to hit the ground running following their moves late on in the transfer window.

But Howe has urged fans to be patient with Newcastle's new attackers, as they bid to record their first win of the campaign.

“There will be a period of adjustment so we all have to be very understanding of that. It is difficult for players to just come in,” Howe said.

Of Woltemade, who played for Germany over the international window, Howe said: “He has not had a pre-season with us and I love every player to experience that because your learning is a lot quicker.

“He is very good technically. He is very good around the box, he scores goals and I think that will translate.”

Discussing the impact Isak’s drawn-out transfer had on his side, Howe added: “I don’t think every squad would have been able to blank it out and carry on and make the team grow from the experience. That is always the challenge. We have to be better for what happened and not succumb to it.”

Wolves have shipped eight goals across their three league games so far this season, conceding three against Everton in a 3-2 defeat in their last Premier League outing.

Transfer deadline day saw activity at Molineux, but perhaps not the flurry of movement Wolves fans would have been hoping for, with just the one incoming in the form of Tolu Arokodare from Genk.

After overseeing a run of six consecutive wins during the business end of the 2024-25 season, Vitor Pereira has now failed to lead his side to a win in seven Premier League games, losing six of those.

“In this moment, I cannot change a lot because it’s time to understand clearly the ideas, especially for the players that are arriving,” Pereira said.

“But I believe in the future I want to switch the positions because I like the players who can play not just in one position, but more than one position. It can give us different movements.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Newcastle – Nick Woltemade

Woltemade will become the fourth German to represent Newcastle in the Premier League, joining the ranks of Dietmar Hamann, Loris Karius, and Malick Thiaw.

He netted five goals in his last seven appearances for Stuttgart across all competitions, and was a star at the Under-21 Euros in the summer.

In fact, only eight players scored more goals than Woltemade in the Bundesliga during the 2024-25 season, with his total reaching 17 in all tournaments.

Wolves – Tolu Arokodare

Tolu was the joint top scorer in the Belgian Pro League for the 2024-25 season, netting 21 goals for Genk.

He also led the league in total shots with 158. With 44 goal involvements in 95 league appearances in Belgium, the Wolves faithful will be hoping the Nigerian international can alleviate the goalscoring burden placed on Jorgen Strand Larsen, who was a target for Newcastle last month.

MATCH PREDICTION: NEWCASTLE WIN

Wolves have managed only one victory in their last 22 top-flight away trips to Newcastle (seven draws and 14 defeats), with that win coming 2-1 in December 2018 under Nuno Espirito Santo.

Across 43 top-division visits to St James’ Park, Wolves have kept just two clean sheets, with those achieved as far back as 1899 and 1974.

Newcastle have scored in all 20 of their Premier League games against Wolves. The only longer such scoring runs in the competition are Arsenal against West Brom (26) and Arsenal against Wolves (22).

Despite failing to win any of their opening three league matches this season (two draws and one defeat), Newcastle have faced only 18 shots, fewer than any other team. This is the lowest total faced in the first three matches since Manchester City allowed only 15 in the 2021-22 season.

Against Wolves specifically, Newcastle have lost only two of their 20 Premier League meetings (seven wins and 11 draws), which equates to a defeat percentage of 10% – their lowest loss rate against any opponent they have faced at least 20 times.

Meanwhile, Wolves have spent 81.5% of their league campaign so far in a losing position, with only Aston Villa also above 50% (57.1). Newcastle’s own most notable game state statistic is that they have spent 79.6% of this season drawing.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Newcastle – 64.9%

Draw – 18.8%

Wolves - 16.2%