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Prediction: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur

Veselin Trajkovic in Free Soccer Predictions 14 Dec 2019

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Verdict: Total goals over 2.5

Best odds: 10/11

Bookmaker: bet365

Wolverhampton Wanderers will play host to Tottenham Hotspur at the Molineux Stadium on Sunday afternoon, in an important game that will be a part of round 17 of the 2019/20 Premier League season and a clash of two highly rated Portuguese tacticians.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Ever since their return to the Premier League in the summer of 2018, Wolves have been one of the bigger and more positive surprises the English top flight has offered. Last season they finished seventh, directly below the ‘big six’, and this time around they seem determined to do better than that and take advantage of any potential slip up from any one of them.

Already it would seem quite realistic with Manchester United on the same point tally as them (24), Spurs on 23 and Arsenal 22, after 16 rounds, but for the sudden surge of Leicester City who, at the time of the writing, sit second on 38 points. The results achieved so far have put Wolves in sixth place, and manager Nuno Espirito Santo seems to have put together a truly formidable team.

Having finished seventh last term and successfully gone through the qualification process in the summer, they reached the Europa League this season and they’ve navigated through Group K, also consisting of SC Braga, Slovan Bratislava and Besiktas, to reach the knockout stages from the second place. On Thursday, they beat Besiktas at home by 4-0.

The only potential worry for Wolves at this point is that Arsenal, who are on the lookout for a new manager after sacking Unai Emery, have reportedly sought to hold talks with Espirito Santo over the vacant job.

Team News

Espirito Santo rested a number of his players on Thursday against Besiktas, and they’re all now set to return into the line-up. First-choice striker and the club’s top scorer Raul Jimenez is among them.

Defender Wily Boly (ankle) and midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White (lower back) are unavailable for selection.

Tottenham Hotspur

There’s no real need to go into details when it comes to the way Spurs started the season. It suffices to say that Mauricio Pochettino was sacked after over five years at the helm and only a few months after reaching the Champions League final because of it. Jose Mourinho has been appointed in his place and things have started looking a little better since.

As has been said, Spurs are currently on 23 points, one less than Wolves, and sit seventh in the Premier League table. Their results have been mixed lately – a win over Bournemouth followed by a defeat to Manchester United, a thumping of Burnley and a defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

The club are currently sweating over the futures of defenders Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld and are engaged in conversations with the representatives of both the Belgians, while the situation with midfielder Christian Eriksen seems unsolvable at the moment. All the signs are pointing towards the Danish international’s exit in the summer, with the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus all interested.

Team News

Mourinho also rested several players in midweek and is now expected to name them for this game. Tanguy Ndombele is, however, out of action with a groin problem, while fellow midfielder Harry Winks has recovered from an ankle injury and could make an appearance. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is still out and won’t be back soon, which means Paulo Gazzaniga is set to stand between the posts.

Conclusion

This should be a very interesting clash that could easily go either way. For all the success Spurs had under Pochettino before this season, it’s not without reason that the two sides sit so close together in the table. The quality of the team is probably on the side of the visitors, but the hosts are a well-drilled unit of individuals who know each other and the demands of their manager well. If there’s one thing that this clash promises, apart from result uncertainty, it’s goals, likely at both ends of the pitch.

Verdict: Total goals over 2.5

Best odds: 10/11

Bookmaker: bet365

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Veselin Trajkovic


Vesko is a football writer that likes to observe the game for what it is, focusing on teams, players and their roles, formations, tactics, rather than stats. He follows the English Premier League closely, Liverpool FC in particular. His articles have been published on seven different football blogs.

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