Tottenham vs. Wolves: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

With four defeats from their last five in the league, Spurs' league form is really poor. Even on home soil, they're struggling, with Ange Postecoglou's men winless in their last four league games at home, with three of those games ending in defeat.

Following the arrival of manager Vítor Pereira, Wolves have won both of their last two games by a combined scoreline of 5-0, and it looks as though they're amidst a new manager bounce. Wolves are strong in transitions and will fancy their chances to take advantage of a makeshift Spurs defence that often looks open at the best of times, so we're backing them to claim a big win here. Tottenham 1-2 Wolves.

Tottenham Hotspur welcome Wolves to North London as they go in search of a sorely needed Premier League win.

• Date: 29/12/2024
• Kick-off time: 15:00
• Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, North London

It's been a disappointing campaign for a Spurs side that currently find themselves 11th in the Premier League with 23 points from 18 games. Tottenham entered the campaign expecting to be contesting for a Champions League place, and while they've shown flashes of brilliance, their showings have been wildly inconsistent. Spurs' lows are also far too low for a side that fancies itself as a Champions League contender, and as the weeks pass by, their trajectory seems to be heading in the wrong direction their performance levels decline amidst mounting pressure from the fans.

Ange Postecoglou has not been helped by an injury crisis in defence, granted, but much of that has been self-inflicted, with the Australian having rushed the likes of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven back from injury before they were fully fit. As a result, Spurs have been playing with 18-year-old midfielder Archie Gray at centre-back, which is incredible for a club of Tottenham's resources.

As expected, then, fans' patience with Postecoglou is wearing increasingly thin, and many fans are passionately calling for his time in North London to reach a conclusion. However, it's likely that Tottenham's problems, which are very longstanding, transcend the manager in the dugout, and major changes at the root of the club will need to be made in order for it to really progress. Those changes aren't going to come in the immediate future, so for the time being, Postecoglou needs to start quickly picking up wins to save his job, and a home game against Wolves is nothing less than a must-win fixture.

Wolverhampton Wanderers currently sit 17th in the Premier League with 15 points from 18 games. For the first time in a long time, Wolves are outside of the relegation zone. Since parting ways with manager Gary O'Neil, Wolves have recorded successive wins in the early days of Vítor Pereira's reign and the team are now looking to start their ascent up the league table.

Wolves have a squad brimming with talent and their league position largely belied the quality at hand, and the expectation will now be that they continue to climb the league table. Wolves star performer, Matheus Cunha, is arguably one of the best players in the league and is no doubt one of the best players outside of the traditional "Big 6", if not the best player outside of that bracket.

Pereira uses the same system that this Wolves squad has been accustomed to so the transition has been seamless, and having made a few of his own tweaks, the Portuguese manager has produced immediate results. Normally, Wolves would be second favourites for a game away at Spurs, but with how poorly the home side are playing and given how palpable the pressure on the team currently is, Wolves will view this as a monumental opportunity to pick up three huge points.

This game will not be televised live in the UK, but partial radio coverage will be provided by BBC Radio West Midlands.

Tottenham Team News:

Tottenham will be without full-back Djed Spence, who is unavailable through suspension following a late red card at the City Ground, so he joins Richarlison, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario, Mikey Moore and Wilson Odobert on the absentee list.

Pedro Porro will reclaim his place at right-back, while James Maddison will hope for a recall to the starting XI after seeing his side draw a blank last time out.

Predicted lineup: Forster; Porro, Drăgușin, Gray, Udogie; Bentancur, Sarr; Kulusevski, Maddison, Son; Solanke.

Wolves Team News:

Wolves will once again be without Pablo Sarabia, Boubacar Traoré, Saša Kalajdžić, Yerson Mosquera and Enso González.

After a goal off the bench on Boxing Day, Hwang Hee-chan will be hoping to have worked his way into the starting lineup for this one.

Predicted lineup: Sá; Doherty, Bueno, T. Gomes; Semedo, André, J. Gomes, Aït Nouri; Guedes, Cunha, Hwang.

Tottenham:

Tottenham are coming into this game with two wins, one draw and two losses from their last five games, but one win and four defeats from their last five in the league. Last time out, Spurs were beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest away from home in what was a flat performance.

Before that, Tottenham were hammered 3-6 by Liverpool in a resounding defeat, with the goals coming from James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke, which followed a 4-3 win over Manchester United in the League Cup, courtesy of Solanke (X2), Kulusevski and Son Heung-min.

Those results followed a 5-0 hammering of Southampton - thanks to goals from Maddison (X2), Son, Kulusevski and Pape Matar Sarr - and a 1-1 draw away at Rangers in the Europa League, where Kulusevski secured a point late on.

Wolves:

Wolves' form has seen a brief uptick following the arrival of their new manager, with the Midlands-based club winning both of their last two games. Goals from Matheus Cunha and Hwang Hee-Chan secured a 2-0 win over a ten-man Manchester United on Boxing Day, which was preceded by a thumping 3-0 win away at Leicester City thanks to Gonçalo Guedes, Rodrigo Gomes and Cunha

Prior to that, Wolves were beaten 1-2 by Ipswich Town thanks to an injury-time winner for the visitors, which came after a 2-1 loss at West Ham United and a heavy 4-0 defeat away at Everton.

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