Premier League: Can Spurs Tame the Hungry Wolves?

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur

Two teams with attacking intent are set to fight it out at Molyneux on Saturday night when Spurs heads to the Black Country.

Mauricio Pochettino takes his team to the Midlands for a first league meeting with Wolves in six years, and this is a fascinating clash between a team of established Premier League stars and a big-spending new arrival.

Spurs boast half the England team, not to mention Denmark’s best player in Christian Eriksen, while Nuno Espirito Santo has brought a Portuguese revolution to Wolverhampton culminating in promotion to the top flight in spectacular fashion last season. And Wolves have had their fair share of Premier League 2018 news coverage after an impressive start to their first campaign in the elite division since 2012, which sees them in 10^th place after ten games.

It’s a game Spurs will hope to win to help them stay in touch with the leaders. After a frustrating summer of no signings, in stark contrast to their opponents, and having to play on a damaged home surface, a poor result at Molyneux will leave a bitter taste. But the Wolves are hungry for success.

Talking Points

Spurs’ aspirations…

Pochettino’s men lost to Manchester City on a Wembley pitch unsuitable for football after an NFL game between Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars ploughed it up. City coped the better of the two teams, and Pep Guardiola’s side has the sort of opportunity as serious contenders for domestic and European glory Spurs can only aspire to at the moment.

The North London outfit has quality in abundance but not in the depth of the likes of City and Liverpool, and that could well be the difference between success and a near miss…again. Lucas Moura has added an extra dimension of pace to the Spurs attack, and some spectacular performances have taken some of the weight off the shoulders of his captain Kane.

But Christian Eriksen’s return from injury is so important to their hopes; he only made the bench on Monday so we’ll have to wait and see whether he’s fit to start on Saturday.

While Spurs are just about keeping pace in the league, five points from the summit, they are struggling in Europe. The 2-2 draw with PSV has left them with an uphill battle to qualify for the knockout stages, five points behind second-placed Inter in Group B and Barcelona almost already through.

Wolves’ financial muscle

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Since the takeover by Fosun International and their relationship with super agent Jorge Mendes, the Wolves have reached for the stars. Nuno Espirito Santo (a Mendes client) bought a ready-made Premier League side to rip up the Championship last season, and they’ve started pretty well in this top-flight campaign.

The pre-season Premier League 2018 odds placed Wolves in the lower mid-table, but their own target was to climb as high as they can as quickly as possible. Santo has been able to name a settled side which has all the hallmarks of a top-ten outfit, though two recent defeats have slowed their progress a little.

With the outstanding Ruben Neves, the biggest signing in Championship history at the centre of all Wolves creative play, they do carry a threat despite not being prolific in front of goal. And for all Wolves’ attractive football, the most significant signing of their summer was goalkeeper Rui Patricio. Signing players of the quality of the Portuguese stopper were a million miles away a couple of years ago,

They haven’t seen stars like this in the Black Country since the 1970s, but the good times are returning and Nuno could well be the man to usher in a new golden era.

History

Were this a game from the sixties, when Wolves and Spurs dominated English football, this would be the match of the season. With the Premier League blessed by a plethora of top teams packed with world-class stars, it falls a little way short. But it is a fixture which still holds plenty of intrigue.

Spurs recovered from defeat to Manchester City with a win over West Ham in the Carabao Cup, and that may be Poch’s best chance of opening the trophy cabinet.

Meanwhile, back-to-back defeats to Brighton and Watford may have taken a little wind from the Wolves’ sails, and they have only participated in one game with over 2.50 goals, scoring nine and conceding nine so far.

The Premier League head-to-heads are in Spurs’ favour with four wins to two and two draws.