Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to make it back-to-back wins at the start of their 2021-22 Premier League season when they travel to Molineux on Sunday to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Spurs opened their campaign with an impressive 1-0 victory over the champions Manchester City last weekend, while Wolves began life under new head coach Bruno Lage with a 1-0 loss at Leicester City.
Match preview
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Wolves gave a good account of themselves at the King Power Stadium last weekend, but a clever finish from Jamie Vardy in the latter stages of the first half allowed Leicester to secure an important three points.
Lage will now lead his new side into their first home match of the new season and will hope to make it an uncomfortable Molineux return for Nuno Espirito Santo, who enjoyed a lot of success at the club before leaving at the end of the 2020-21 campaign, with the Portuguese later being appointed Tottenham boss.
It has been a busy summer for Wolves in terms of both incomings and outgoings, and Jose Sa and Francisco Trincao made their debuts in the loss at Leicester on the opening weekend.
Nuno achieved finishes of seventh, seventh and 13th in his three Premier League seasons in charge of the club, and it will be fascinating to see what happens under Lage, who led Benfica to the 2018-19 Primeira Liga title.
Wolves found it difficult to show consistency at Molineux last term, losing eight of their 19 matches, scoring just 21 times in the process, and their home record will certainly be tested in their next two league fixtures against Tottenham and Manchester United before the end of the month.
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Tottenham, meanwhile, made the perfect start to their 2021-22 Premier League campaign last Sunday, as a second-half effort from Son Heung-min allowed them to record a 1-0 victory over Man City.
Spurs will enter this match off the back of a defeat, having lost 1-0 to Pacos de Ferreira in the first leg of their Europa Conference League playoff tie on Thursday, although it was a much-changed side from the one that took to the field last weekend, and there will be a host of changes at Molineux.
Nuno continues to answer questions on the future of a certain Harry Kane, but there is a strong chance that the England captain could be involved on Sunday amid the constant speculation surrounding his future; Manchester City continue to fight for his signature but time is starting to run out in this transfer window.
Another victory this weekend would lead Tottenham nicely into back-to-back Premier League matches with Watford and Crystal Palace either side of the international break, and it will be interesting to see whether any more new players arrive at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before the end of the month.
Last term, the club claimed seventh, but they were only five points off the top four, and the performance against the champions last weekend would certainly have boosted confidence in the camp.
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Team News
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Wolves did not suffer any fresh injury problems in the defeat at Leicester on the opening weekend, but the club remain without the services of six first-team players for this match.
Indeed, Jonny, Willy Boly, Pedro Neto, Daniel Podence, Yerson Mosquera and Hugo Bueno are still on the sidelines, which could lead to Lage selecting an unchanged side for the match with Spurs.
New signing Trincao supported Raul Jimenez and Adama Traore in the final third against Leicester and that could again be the case this weekend, with Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho featuring in central midfield.
A back three could also again include Max Kilman, but Nelson Semedo, Fabio Silva and Leander Dendoncker are all knocking on the door in terms of spots in the first XI.
As for Tottenham, Nuno has said that he has not yet decided whether Kane will feature on Sunday, with the head coach set to make a final call on Saturday after a training session.
Joe Rodon and Cameron Carter-Vickers will both be absent due to injuries, while Tanguy Ndombele will not be involved amid the speculation surrounding his future.
Nuno's squad is otherwise in good shape, and it would not be a surprise to see the same XI from the Man City fixture again take to the field for the first whistle.
As a result, Kane's possible return could come off the bench, with Son playing through the middle, and Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn operating in the wide areas for the North London outfit.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Kilman, Coady, Saiss; Hoever, Neves, Moutinho, Marcal; Trincao, Jimenez, Traore
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Tanganga, Sanchez, Dier, Reguilon; Hojbjerg, Skipp, Dele; Lucas, Son, Bergwijn
We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs will be on a high after their win over Man City, but Wolves were impressive in stages of their defeat to Leicester, and we are predicting a low-scoring draw on Sunday afternoon, which would not be the worst result in the world for either side.
Top tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Tottenham Hotspur win with a probability of 43.92%. A win for Wolverhampton Wanderers had a probability of 28.52% and a draw had a probability of 27.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Tottenham Hotspur win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.69%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.62%) and 0-2 (8.47%). The likeliest Wolverhampton Wanderers win was 1-0 (9.69%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.92%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 12.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Tottenham Hotspur in this match.
