Wolves v Spurs: Preview

Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers previews the game.

Preamble

This is uncharted territory for Wolves under Nuno Espirito Santo.

Consecutive league defeats for the first time since he took charge last summer have quelled the momentum somewhat after a fabulous opening eight games which yielded 15 points.

A lack of goals (nine in 10 games) has become an issue and Wolves now face the two North London clubs on successive weekends, presenting the possibility of a prolonged winless win.

Doom and gloom then? Well no, absolutely and comprehensively not.

Wolves are 10th in the Premier League (seven points ahead of 13th), playing attractive football that's been lauded up and down the country, with a young and improving team full of potential superstars.

They possess the fifth best defence in the division and are one of only two teams to take points off Manchester City this season (the other being Liverpool).

They also held Manchester United, so have proved they can match the big boys in a one-off game.

Spurs, playing their third game of a four-in-eight-days spell arrive at Molineux having made their best start to a season in Premier League history, but with boss Mauricio Pochettino saying it's the lowest he's felt during his tenure.

Harry Kane (one goal in five) isn't at his best, they've had injury problems and of course their new stadium saga has overshadowed everything.

Plenty of reasons to back up why this isn't an away banker, then.

If Wolves can reproduce the energy and commitment they showed against Brighton – and score the first goal – they can give Spurs a hell of game.

The opposition

Luke Hatfield spoke with Spurs blogger Dustin Menno to get the lowdown on tomorrow's opponents.

Team news

Another week, another clean bill of health (unless anything has cropped up in training) for Wolves.

Nuno changed his XI for the first time this season last weekend, dropping Diogo Jota in favour of Adama Traore. After Traore's underwhelming performance (he has since admitted he can play "miles better"), there's a case for handing Ivan Cavaleiro his first start of the season.

Leander Dendoncker is still waiting for his first Premier League appearance since a £12million switch from Anderlecht, but appeared on the bench for the first time at Brighton.

Spurs have a few first-team players out. Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose, Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama are all sidelined, but Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen both started in the Carabao Cup win at West Ham in midweek after returning to fitness.

Likely line ups

Wolves (3-4-3): Patricio; Bennett, Coady, Boly; Doherty, Moutinho, Neves, Otto; Costa, Jimenez, Cavaleiro. Subs: Ruddy, Dendoncker, Vinagre, Gibbs-White, Jota, Traore, Bonatini.

Spurs (4-3-3): Lloris; Trippier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Davies; Eriksen, Dembele, Winks; Alli, Kane, Son.

Key players

Wolves – Conor Coady

Harry Kane is Tottenham’s obvious threat and defender Conor Coady will need to be at his best to contain the prolific England international.

Spurs – Harry Kane

By his own ridiculously high standards Kane hasn’t started the season on fire, ‘only’ netting seven times in 16 appearances for club and country, but the 25-year-old is by a distance England’s best striker and the man Spurs turn to for inspiration. He’s scored 147 goals in 225 appearances for Tottenham.

The bosses

Nuno Espirito Santo: "We have to react. I think how we played in the last game, we played good and didn’t deserve to lose. We have to maintain our high standards."

Mauricio Pochettino: "The season so far, it’s strange because my feeling is the worst feeling I’ve had in the five years that I’ve been here. But it’s the best start ever for the club in the Premier League. It’s strange, no?"

Form

Wolves LWWLL

Oct 27: Brighton 1 (Murray 48) Wolves 0

Oct 20: Wolves 0 Watford 2 (Capoue 20, Pereyra 21)

Oct 6: Crystal Palace 0 Wolves 1 (Doherty, 56)

Sep 29: Wolves 2 (Cavaleiro 79, Otto 87) Southampton 0

Sep 25: Wolves 0 Leicester City 0 (1-3 on pens) *Carabao Cup

Spurs LLLDL

Oct 31: West Ham 1 (Perez 71) Spurs 3 (Son 16, 54, Llorente 75) *Carabao Cup

Oct 29: Spurs 0 Manchester City 1 (Mahrez 6)

Oct 24: PSV Eindhoven 2 (Lozano 30, De Jong 87) Spurs 2 (Lucas 39, Kane 55) *Champions League

Oct 20: West Ham 0 Spurs 1 (Lamela 44)

Oct 6: Spurs 1 (Dier 8) Cardiff 0

Past five meetings

Jan 14, 2012 (PL): Spurs 1 (Modric 51) Wolves 1 (Fletcher 22)

Sep 10, 2011 (PL): Wolves 0 Spurs 2 (Adebayor 67, Defoe 80)

Mar 6, 2011 (PL): Wolves 3 (Doyle 20, pen 40, Fletcher 87) Spurs 3 (Defoe 30, 35, Pavlyuchenko 48)

Sep 18, 2010 (PL): Spurs 3 (Van der Vaart pen 76, Pavlyuchenko 87, Hutton 90) Wolves 1 (Fletcher 45)

Feb 10, 2010 (PL): Wolves 1 (Jones 27) Spurs 0

Referee

Mike Dean (Wirral)

Shy and retiring ref who hates being the centre of attention.

Was in charge for Wolves' 2-0 defeat at Leicester in August when he sent off Jamie Vardy. Also refereed Wolves' famous 1-0 win at Cardiff in April when he awarded the hosts two injury time penalties.

Match odds

Wolves 11/5, draw 12/5, Spurs 5/4