Wolves vs Tottenham

• December 30,2018
• -
• Asher K

WOLVES VS TOTTENHAM: STATS, ODDS, AND PREDICTION

Article last updated on 23rd of April 2019

 

With the English Premier League slowly drawing to a close, Wolves and Spurs have already faced off twice this season. As of now, Tottenham has quite a good chance of making it into the Champions League next season.

But they will have to fight for their place, as Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea are close behind. It's going to be a tight race to the top for these three teams.

While Tottenham may have the upper hand in terms of points, Wolverhampton Wanderers have presently surprised everyone with how consistent they’ve been. No one would have guessed that the newly promoted team would do as well as they are doing right now. Maybe we should have given Wolves more credit at the start of the season, with them being the current Championship title holders.

 

The First Meeting

The first time the two faced off was on the 3rd of November, last year, at Wolves’ home ground, Molineux Stadium. Most sided with Liverpool, assuming that they were the superior team, plus Wolves seemed to have lost their initial streak of success.

Spurs were looking to bounce back after a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City, desperate to stay in the race for the title. Wolves on the other hand, had lost their last two games against Brighton and Watford, and they weren't able to find the net during both matches.

Although most assumed that it would be an easy win for Spurs, Wolverhampton Wanderers put up quite the fight, and the game was pretty evenly matched and was very gripping rugby until that final whistle. During the match, Tottenham had a possession rate of 52%, meaning that both the teams really fought it out. The passing accuracy for both the clubs was over 80%.

The match itself was thoroughly gripping. Just a few minutes in, and Dembele, Tottenham's midfielder is injured and unable to continue. This didn't seem to deter them, as they quickly took the lead, as Erik Lamela effortlessly whizzed past Rui Patricio to score a goal for his side.

Just a few moments later, midfielder Lucas Moura managed to find the net.  By half time, things were starting to look bleak for Wolves.

However, their time off the pitch must have really helped, as their form dramatically changed after half time.

They came close to scoring goals several times, but unfortunately for them, team skipper Hugo Lloris proved to be too good at what he does.

Things took a turn for the worst for Wolves an hour into the game, when Harry Kane scored yet another goal. With the score being 0-3, it's seemed like Wolverhampton Wanderers had no hope of coming out on top.

In a sudden turn of events, Raul Jimenez is sent hurling to the ground by the Spurs’ defender - Juan Foyth, and they're granted a much need penalty. You can bet your life that the Wolves made the best of this opportunity. At the 68th minute, Ruben Neves scored their first goal of the match.

A short while later, Tottenham seemed to be in trouble when Foyth was given a yellow card, and the Wolves were given another penalty. Jimenez came through yet again, and with just 10 minutes of play, brought up the score to 2-3. It seemed for a moment there that the match would maybe end in a draw, but Tottenham was able to maintain their lead.

 

The Second Meeting

The next time they met each other was just before the new year, at Wembley Stadium. Yet again, bookies, as well as several experts predicted that it would be a comfortable win for the Tottenham Hotspurs.

They had a great run prior to this match, beating Everton 6 - 2 and Bournemouth 5 - 0. Wolves, on the other hand, didn't have such a successful run.

The match was a thriller right off the bat. Wolves couldn't take advantage of two free kick opportunities, with Patricio making some great saves. At 22 minutes, England's skipper Harry Kane did what he does best and diced the first goal of the match, much to the disappointment of Wolves fans. Except for a few yellow cards, the rest of the match up until half time remained quite uneventful, with Tottenham maintaining their dominance.

The post-halftime scene initially seemed to be just as uneventful. There were hardly any changes, apart from a few substitutions. Just when it began to look like it would be another win for the Spurs, with less than 20 minutes left for the final whistle, Willy Boyle out of nowhere scores an equalizer.

This immediately changes the atmosphere of the entire game. Tottenham would not have to fight to win. With less than 10 minutes left, Raul Jimenez works his magic, and scores a goal for his team. 2 - 1 Wolves. Jimenez was so elated that he took his shirt off to celebrate, an act for which he was, rather, unfortunately, given a yellow card.

Just we thought that that was it, they managed to squeeze in another goal, with 3 minutes remaining for the final whistle. Helder Costa managed to get the best of Lloris and bend the ball around him to find the back of the net. At the 87th minute, Wolves were up 3 - 1.

This game just proves that Premier League matches can be unpredictable.  It seemed as though Tottenham had it in the bag, and dominated the first half. However, after a slow start, Wolves surely and steadily fought their way to the top.

 

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