‘New’ kick-off time for Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Tottenham Hotspur – prediction, team news, lineups
Only five points apart in the Premier League table – an unthinkable scenario at the start of the season – Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur square off at Molineux on Sunday afternoon.
The Lilywhites will have had fewer than 72 hours to recover from their 1-1 Europa League draw with Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday, while the Old Gold are on the cusp of survival thanks to their 2-1 win at Ipswich Town last weekend.
Match preview
Fourteenth in the table, 17 points clear of the relegation zone and 14 points below the top seven, it would be fair to say that the remainder of the Premier League campaign is a write-off for Ange Postecoglou, who is now banking on Europa League success to potentially save his job.
However, the Lilywhites will be up against it in the second leg of their quarter-final with 2021-22 winners Frankfurt, despite coming from a goal down to rescue a draw in Thursday’s first leg as Hugo Ekitike’s stunning finish preceded a cheeky flick from Pedro Porro.
Had Frankfurt goalkeeper Kaua Santos not enjoyed a field day in between the posts, Tottenham would be heading to Germany with a slender or healthy lead to protect, but their season – and likely Postecoglou’s future – now hinges on success on Frankfurt’s turf next Thursday.
As far as Premier League matters go, Spurs at least avoided the embarrassment of all embarrassments at home to Southampton last weekend, marching to the 3-1 win that confirmed the Saints’ relegation from the top flight and ended their four-game winless run in the division.
Tottenham’s pitiful road record does not make for joyful reading before Wolves or indeed Frankfurt, though, as they have lost their last three on rival turf without scoring and have already suffered a shocking nine Premier League losses away from home this season, the third-most in the league behind Southampton (13) and Leicester City (11).
The concerning statistics do not stop there for Spurs, as the Lilywhites are now facing a side on the joint-longest winning streak in the Premier League; Wolves, Aston Villa and Newcastle United are the only three teams to have won each of their last three games in the division.
Vitor Pereira’s men did have to do it the hard way at Portman Road last weekend, as Liam Delap’s 12th goal of the top-flight season gave Ipswich a potentially priceless lead, but the introduction of Pablo Sarabia turned the bottom-half battle on his head.
In the space of just 12 minutes, Sarabia struck the leveller and teed up Jorgen Strand Larsen to complete the turnaround, as Wolves followed up their previous successes over Southampton and West Ham United to surge 12 points clear of the drop zone.
Survival could be clinched in just two games’ time if results go in Wolves’ favour, and the Old Gold’s terrific comeback in gameweek 31 also means that they have found the back of the net in each of their last 10 games in all tournaments, last drawing a blank at home to Arsenal in January.
Furthermore, Wolves have established a reputation as a bogey team for Tottenham, having gone unbeaten in their last four league meetings with Spurs while winning both of their last two at Molineux, but not since the 1960s have they beaten Spurs in three consecutive home league matches.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:
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Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions):
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Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form:
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Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):
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Team News
Tottenham came out of their first-leg draw with Frankfurt with no fresh issues, and although reports emerged before the draw of Wilson Odobert potentially sustaining another hamstring injury, the Frenchman made the bench and should be fine to feature here.
As Spurs try to rat out the leak – which Postecoglou has now conceded undeniably exists within the club – the medical team are also nursing Dejan Kulusevski (foot), Kevin Danso (hamstring) and Radu Dragusin (ACL) back to full health; Kulusevski may be in with a slight chance of facing Frankfurt next week.
With a campaign-defining fixture coming up, Postecoglou has confirmed that he will not shy away from making several changes, benefitting the likes of Archie Gray, Djed Spence, Pape Sarr and maybe even the seldom-seen Richarlison.
As for Wolves, the Old Gold will welcome the mercurial Matheus Cunha back from his lengthy suspension on Sunday, but the Brazilian will not be waltzing back into the starting lineup just yet.
Indeed, Pereira has confirmed that he intends to stick with a winning formula, meaning that Cunha must play second fiddle to Marshall Munetsi for now, but Sarabia is certainly a contender to oust Jean-Ricner Bellegarde from the starting XI.
In terms of injuries, Sasa Kalajdzic, Enso Gonzalez, Yerson Mosquera and Leon Chiwone are all out for the long-term with knee issues, while Pedro Lima is also in the infirmary with an ankle problem but would not have started anyway.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Doherty, Toti, Agbadou; Semedo, Andre, Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Sarabia, Munetsi; Larsen
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Vicario; Porro, Gray, Davies, Spence; Sarr, Bissouma, Maddison; Johnson, Richarlison, Tel
We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Even a full-strength Tottenham side have struggled to impose themselves on Wolves over the past couple of years, and with Postecoglou sure to keep his biggest hitters in reserve, the travelling Spurs faithful should be left disappointed once again.
Wolves have found a consistent attacking approach that is now bearing fruit, and with the addition of a well-rested Cunha, Pereira’s men have our vote to close the gap to Spurs with a fourth win on the spin.
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