Match Threads Wolves vs Spurs - Match Thread - Day 15

[Bulletspur]

WOLVES 1-1 SPURS
Saiss Ndombele​

Spurs: Lloris (C), Doherty, Sanchez, Dier, Davies, Reguilon (Bergwijn), Hojbjerg, Winks, Ndombele (Sissoko), Son (Lamela), Kane.
Subs: Hart, Alderweireld, Rodon, Tanganga, Aurier, Dele.

Wolves: Patricio, Semedo, Coady (c), Saiss, Marcal, Neves, Moutinho, Neto, Podence, Traore, Silva.
Subs: Ruddy, Hoever, Ait-Nouri, Vitinha, Perry, Cundle, Kilman, Otasowie, Corbeanu.

Official Site Match Centre
Jose Mourinho makes three changes to the team that started against Stoke in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. Sergio Reguilon, Tanguy Mdombele and Heung-Min Son come back in for Dele, Gareth Bale and Lucas. Japhet Tanganga is back on the bench after recovering from injury.

REFEREE: ----------- Paul Tierney ???????

TEAM FORM: ------ Wolves - WLLWL ------ Spurs - WDLLW ----- (All competitions)


We will be looking to bounce back from successive Premier League defeats when we continue our 2020-21 campaign away to Wolves on Sunday night. We have lost our last two in the league to Liverpool and Leicester City, which has seen us drop down into sixth position in the table, while Wolves currently occupy 11th position.

Consistency has been a real problem for Wolves this season, with the team winning six but also losing six of their 14 matches, and a total of 20 points from 14 matches has left them in 11th spot in the table. They have actually lost three of their last four in the Premier League, including a disappointing 2-1 away to Burnley on Monday night. But Wolves did beat Chelsea 2-1 in their last game at Molineux, though, and are certainly capable of overcoming the best sides in the division despite struggling to perform on a week-to-week basis. The 2017-18 Championship winners, who finished seventh in the top flight last season, will have had Europa League ambitions again this term, but it remains to be seen whether they are capable of holding down a spot high up the table in the coming months. Wolves will follow this match with a trip to an in-form Manchester United on December 29 and could find themselves slipping further down the division if they suffer two disappointing results.

We, meanwhile, managed to book our spot in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night courtesy of a 3-1 victory away to Championship side Stoke City. We were mentioned as possible title contenders earlier this season, but we are without a win in their last three league matches, drawing with Palace before losing to Liverpool and Leicester. We have slipped down into sixth position in the table, six points behind leaders Liverpool, although a win against Wolves would set us up nicely leading into back-to-back home games with Fulham and Leeds United on December 30 and January 2 respectively.
Wolves have actually won two of the last three Premier League meetings between us, but we have been victorious on each of their last three visits to Molineux. Our away form this season has been strong, winning four of our seven matches, suffering just one defeat in the process, and we will be eyeing our eighth league win of the season.

Wolves will again be without the services of Raul Jiminez and Jonny through injury, while Leander Dendonker is unlikely to be available for selection. Nuno is expected to make changes from the side that started against Burnley on Monday night, with Willy Boly potentially coming in for Max Kilman at the back, while Fabio Silva could replace Owen Otasowie in attack. Adama Traore could again be on the bench for the home side, though, with Daniel Podence, Pedro Neto and Silva likely to feature as the front three, with Joao Moutinho and Ruben neves both lining up in midfield.

As for us, Tanganga is definitely out with a shoulder problem, while Lo Celso will also be unavailable due to the thigh issue that he picked up against Leicester. Bale has also emerged as a doubt, having suffered a calf injury in the first half of the clash with Stoke, but the Wales international is unlikely to start even if he is available for selection. There are not expected to be any surprises in our eleven, with Kane, Son and Bergwijn likely to feature in the attacking positions, while Ndombele should also be in the team.

Banner courtesy of @chrissivad

 

[TheChosenOne]

Badly need a win. Will we get it - hope so.
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Let's get the show on the road lads - COYLWs
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Thanks @Bulletspur - again. LOL

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

God team, strong team. Have bought smart lately and added to the squad under the present manager. Showed up vs. Chelsea and Arsenal and were capable of quite solid performances. But was entirely dismantled by Liverpool. They have only two strong goals scorers available, the rest of the squad doesn't score much. Very smart Portuguese manager who maybe would have been wanted at even bigger clubs than the current job. But, capable of a few very, very unnecessary errors that have cost them greatly in terms of points. I rank them maybe around or perhaps even above Southampton in terms of quality. They can definitely pull off 90 minutes of good football and have for sure what it takes for a high table finish.

And that was Tottenham, but the exact same can be said about Wolverhampton.

 

[Tucker]

Not at all confident about this game. Expect the negativity on here to reach Sherwood levels by half time.

 

[tiger666]

Yeah I hate this fixture, not feeling confident.

 

[TheTanguy]

Neither team will create much in the final third, hopefully we will be more clinical than them. Can't afford to miss big chances like Kane and Bergwijn did at Anfield.

0-1 would be a great result, but a draw wouldn't surprise me at all.

 

[shelfboy68]

We have struggled in the last four games keeping goals out, and I expect the same here so a 2-2 draw looks on the cards for me.

 

[Saoirse]

Win, and there's every chance we'll be back on course for our minimum target of 4th. Lose and we could be clinging onto a top-half spot. Not an easy game, but a win is a must after the last three fuck-ups

 

[Goobers]

They are a great team and I went to the game at the lane last season against them and were even more impressed witrh them in the flesh. They are a really good side and this will be tough. Expecting a bit of an arm wrestle to be honest. Tanguy for me is the key man because they are great in midfield.

 

[Doctor Dinkey]

We put ourselves under hell of a lot of pressure by that gormless Leicester defeat- it was really a bad one. This is a nasty fixture for us in our current form, and defeat will knock us further away from top 4, albeit with easier games to come.
We need to try and impose ourselves in midfield much better and look for others apart from Kane and Son to score. Jimenez missing for them, and probably Dendoncker, is good for us.

 

[Derryank]

Anything less than a win is unacceptable if we're serious about top 4

 

[Japhet]

Big, big game. We need to stop the rot pretty damn quick before we drift back into old habits. Will need to be fully focussed and concentrated to get anything from a tough game at the best of times.

 

[spids]

Think we’ll win this one comfortably. 3-0.

 

[EssexSH27]

My birthday tomorrow so no doubt they'll ruin it for me...

 

[TH1239]

The big question is will Mourinho try to neutralize the pace of their wingers by sitting back and allowing them to have the ball? Without Jimenez, I could see us opting for a counter-attacking 1st half to see how it goes. I'd prefer he start Lamela and try to press them into mistakes and pin them back, but you could see Jose thinking he needs to keep the game controlled with a conservative game plan for the first 70 minutes or so before going for it late. It's imperative we don't concede first, though.

 

[thebenjamin]

The big question is will Mourinho try to neutralize the pace of their wingers by sitting back and allowing them to have the ball? Without Jimenez, I could see us opting for a counter-attacking 1st half to see how it goes. I'd prefer he start Lamela and try to press them into mistakes and pin them back, but you could see Jose thinking he needs to keep the game controlled with a conservative game plan for the first 70 minutes or so before going for it late. It's imperative we don't concede first, though.

Fair to say its odds on we're going to sit back and let them have the ball!

 

[Laboog]

We badly need a win to turn things around after last week. Chelsea, Man United, Leicester and Southampton all dropping points around us in the table we need to take advantage of that.

I’m not expecting it to be exciting, Wolves are more boring than us but a win is all that matters.

Start the usual XI, let’s attack them early and put the pressure on them.

 

[stevespurs]

If we win, I’ll be looking forward to the next two games. Lose, and they will be torture?

 

[Spurs 1961]

Tough game for us. We are struggling to score, just about one goal a game for the last eight or nine. Wolves are not the team they were and without Jiminez short of goals. I can see. 0-0 or 1-1 at best. After JM’s latest strop against creative intent I suspect most of the team will be too scared to do anything else but defend and hit long balls up. Another grind but hopefully we can sneak a win again

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

After JM’s latest strop against creative intent I suspect most of the team will be too scared to do anything