Preview: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Tottenham Hotspur - prediction, team news, lineups

Ange Postecoglou's nine men were thumped 4-1 by London rivals Chelsea on Monday evening, while their hosts were left to rue another contentious VAR call in a 2-1 loss to Sheffield United.

Match preview

On yet another disastrous weekend for the PGMOL, Wolves boss Gary O'Neil fell victim to another controversial call to go against his side at Bramall Lane, where newly-promoted Sheffield United clinched their first top-flight win of the season at the 11th attempt.

An 89th-minute strike from Jean-Ricner Bellegarde would ostensibly be enough for Wolves to walk away with a point after Cameron Archer's piledriver broke the deadlock, but with 100 minutes on the clock, Oliver Norwood smashed home from 12 yards after Fabio Silva was adjudged to have felled George Baldock.

As Bramall Lane revelled in a long-awaited maximum, O'Neil made no bones about his feelings towards the officials on yet another excruciating afternoon, claiming that the division is in a "crazy place" with VAR and suggesting that Baldock bought the foul for the Blades' dramatic late spot kick.

Defeat to Paul Heckingbottom's men ended a four-game unbeaten run for Wolves, who had taken points off of Manchester City, Aston Villa and Newcastle United during that solid sequence but have slipped to 14th in the standings, albeit with a six-point buffer to the relegation zone.

Only West Ham United (18) have found the back of the net more times than Wolves (14) in the bottom half this term, and goalmouth action should be a guarantee at Molineux, as O'Neil's men have now scored and conceded in each of their last nine fixtures across all competitions and have not failed to make the net bulge at home since February.

For a little over 48 hours, Tottenham could proudly boast the last unbeaten record standing in the 2023-24 Premier League season, having witnessed bitter adversaries Arsenal fall victim to another dose of VAR controversy in their 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United.

However, as Mauricio Pochettino strode across the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium touchline for the first time since his 2019 sacking, few could have envisaged the imminent Lilywhites implosion, as Postecoglou's men succumbed to a Cole Palmer penalty and Nicolas Jackson treble after Dejan Kulusevski's deflected opener.

Not long after escaping potential red cards in the first half, Destiny Udogie and Cristian Romero were both made to take the walk of shame on a nightmarish evening for the nine-man North London giants, whose questionable decision to persist with a high defensive line ended up backfiring horribly.

While reiterating his dislike for VAR, a level-headed Postecoglou refused to lay into the officials after Mikel Arteta's explosive St James' Park rant, although the Australian could have had little to complain about as his second-placed side missed the chance to leapfrog Manchester City back into top spot.

Extending Spurs' unbeaten run on the road to eight games would be a consolation prize for Postecoglou, but the Lilywhites have been beaten in two of their last three Premier League clashes with Wolves, most recently going down 1-0 at Molineux in March courtesy of an Adama Traore effort.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:

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Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions):

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Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form:

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Team News

Wolves would have departed Bramall Lane with a few bruised egos, but O'Neil did not witness any players leave the field with injuries, leaving a trio of players on the treatment table for gameweek 12.

The hosting manager has already conceded that the revitalised Pedro Neto will not return before the international break, while Joe Hodge (shoulder) and Hugo Bueno (hamstring) will not be at his disposal either, although the latter could return before the end of the month.

Bellegarde's ultimately inconsequential contribution off the bench against Sheffield United could see the former Strasbourg man rewarded with a recall to the XI over Tommy Doyle, although O'Neil may be tempted to bring in Boubacar Traore for a more defensive presence.

As for a ravaged Tottenham crop, Udogie will serve his one-game ban here on account of his red card versus Chelsea, while Romero will begin a three-match suspension, which will also see the Argentine sit out meetings with Aston Villa and Manchester City in the coming weeks.

To add injury to insult, Micky van de Ven pulled up with what appeared to be a serious hamstring problem on Monday, while James Maddison was withdrawn owing to a blow to the ankle, but Spurs' creator-in-chief should shake off his affliction in time for Saturday.

None of Manor Solomon (knee), Ivan Perisic (knee), Ryan Sessegnon (thigh) or Alfie Whiteman (ankle) will be able to take part, though, and if Ben Davies cannot recover from his own ankle issue, Postecoglou may have no choice but to throw 18-year-old Ashley Phillips into the first XI.

Attacker Richarlison has also announced that he will soon undergo surgery on a pelvic problem, but it is unclear whether that imminent operation will impact his participation at Molineux.

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:

Sa; Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Toti; Hwang, Lemina, Bellegarde, Ait-Nouri; Cunha, Kalajdzic

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:

Vicario; Porro, Dier, Phillips, Royal; Sarr, Bissouma; Kulusevski, Maddison, Johnson; Son

We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur

While some applauded Tottenham and Postecoglou for risking it all against Chelsea with a high defensive line, others lambasted the Australian as Jackson tapped in three times in the final 20 minutes, but one can be sure that the Spurs boss will continue with such tactics no matter what personnel is at his disposal.

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