Having lost their Premier League unbeaten record in spectacular circumstances, Tottenham Hotspur endeavour to enter the international break on a high when they take on Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux in Saturday’s lunchtime kickoff.
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.
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.
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 pair 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) will not be at his disposal either, but Hugo Bueno (hamstring) is available again.
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 a serious hamstring problem on Monday, while James Maddison was withdrawn owing to a blow to the ankle, and neither player will be seen on the pitch for the remainder of the calendar year.
None of Manor Solomon (knee), Ivan Perisic (knee), Ryan Sessegnon (thigh) or Alfie Whiteman (ankle) will be able to take part, though, but Ben Davies has recovered from his own ankle issue and will be thrown straight back into the first XI.
Attacker Richarlison has also announced that he has undergone surgery on a groin injury, which will keep the Brazilian attacker sidelined for a couple of weeks.
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, Davies, Royal; Sarr, Bissouma; Kulusevski, Lo Celso, Johnson; Son
