Flaky would be a good description of our second-half efforts at Bramall Lane.
Sheff Utd pressed well and took advantage of a saturated pitch, but their attacking efforts were so meagre it really did take some doing to lose that match.
The immediate sequence of events leading up to the late penalty summed up a truly awful second 45.
A foul throw (Ait-Nouri), a scuffed clearance (Ait-Nouri) and a refusal to contest an aerial ball (Fabio) all contributed to that calamitous finish and it’s not the first time the players involved have shown physical and mental weakness in clutch moments.
Even against a depleted Spurs side, they will have to fix up tomorrow to avoid back-to-back defeats.
Spurs
There’s blood in the water and this is suddenly a presentable opportunity to take something from the team that had been setting the pace prior to Monday’s implosion.
I’m not sure any side has suffered such an expensive defeat in recent footballing history, but they can’t complain – most of it was self-inflicted.
The two sendings off were madness from Romero and Udogie and had they not been playing with reduced numbers the hamstring injury suffered by van de Ven may also have been avoided.
With those three out along with James Maddison and – I assume – Richarlison, Ange Postecoglou is digging deep into his squad to come up with solutions.
You wouldn’t bet against him finding the answer though given their brisk start to the campaign and the vibrant brand of football they’ve been playing.
Like plenty of others, I enjoyed their maverick approach to playing with nine against Chelsea and am a fan of the manager. He speaks a lot of common sense – a rare commodity in football.
Wolves
I can’t see Bellegarde being left out after coming on to net the equaliser last weekend. We still haven’t seen much of him but what we have seen has been impressive.
Tottenham like a high defensive line too, so it makes sense to choose players who can run in behind as opposed to those who can hold it up.
The other quandary will be in midfield. Tommy Doyle didn’t really make his mark against Sheffield Utd so it’s a coin toss between him, Boubacar and Gomes. Lemina seems undroppable but he is still just one booking away from another suspension.
It would be a huge lift to get Pedro back in the two weeks between now and the trip to Fulham. Fingers crossed we get encouragement on that front.
Predictions
Nobody predicted the 2-1 defeat last weekend, so that’s nice and easy.
It’s hard to say how this one will play out, but I certainly feel more confident about our chances given the trauma their fixed starting XI has suffered. I’m going to split the difference and say 1-1, which would still be a handy point to stick on the board.
As always, if you’d like to join in with the Prediction League this season, it’s simple – just leave your prediction in the comment section below using the boxes provided. Then repeat for every preview article throughout the season, making sure you always use the same email address to make your prediction. Your email is what ties you to your overall score.
Up The Wolves!
Home advantage and a depleted opposition a plus, don’t like the early kick offs as
We can give them a game and would concur that a draw is probable
I’m plumbing for a home win; wouldn’t that be great leading into the break. In reality, it couldn’t be a better time to play spuds; as long as out boys go for the jugular.
High line against us; great, as long as our runners time it right.
A good time to play Spurs for sure. Loads of injuries to some key players. Son though has been on fire recently and they have quality elsewhere too. The scoreline against Chelsea isn’t indicative of where they are of course, but how they bounce back will tell us a lot about whether they truly have a chance to compete for the League title this year. They haven’t shown enough character in previous seasons and, for this game at least, let’s hope that hasn’t changed.
We need to bounce back as well. Whether or not we we robbed by PGMOL again last week, we didn’t look like we deserved anything from our performance. I don’t think the loss of Neto ought to destabilise us enough to be struggling against the likes of Sheff Utd, so I am not sure what happened last week. But his absence will be a blow in our chances of taking points from the top six.
I think we do have the character to bounce back and we should give them a game. But I still feel that that will have too much us.
Spurs are beatable.
Bellegarde to start in the Neto position.
Centre midfield Gomes + Lemina.
Sasa first reserve for Cunha.
Fabio nowhere near the pitch.
A very winnable game considering Spurs are missing so many players and can GON get Wolves to play for ninety minutes if so 2-1to the Wolves.
.
Hoping we can rebound from last weeks debacle. Good time to play Spurs but getting to the stage where all I want is to be assured of is that there’s not another dodgy VAR going against us.
It was a poor second half from Wolves last week and Neto’s absence from the team shouldn’t be an excuse for a below-par performance. Despite Spurs’s squad woes, you know they will attack with energy from the start. Sorry to be a little gloomy, but I’m not convinced that we will get a result from this one.
With the Saudi backed teams bribing referees to conjure results in their favour, hopefully Man City has paid the ref and VAR to get a result that goes for us, and buck the current trend.
Tough one to call. We’ve no doubt been helped by the fact they will be missing a few key players, Maddison in particular if it is true he will be out. That should give us a lift.
They’ll still be dangerous, however. I expected life after Kane to be tricky for Spurs but it’s appeared anything but. One of those games where I could see all outcomes happening. Going with my head though, I reckon they might sneak it. Hope I’m wrong.
Defenses break down sometimes. The important fact to remember is that it wasn’t a penalty and should not have cost us.
An independent review group voted 0-5 that it was the correct call.
So please stop expecting things to go 100% smoothly for us all the time.
A little realism would help.
https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2023/11/09/wolves-robbed-again-rule-independent-panel/
Wolves robbed again, rule independent panel
An independent panel has unanimously confirmed Wolves were on the wrong side of a penalty call for the second consecutive game….
The Independent Panel unanimously agreed that we were on the wrong side of that penalty shout.
Gary O’Neill spent time with Rob Jones after the match, watching the incident several times and Jones still insisted it was a penalty.
What does that say about the referee’s competence to take charge of a Premier League game?
Not much, I reckon.
I can see Hwang or Cunha going down under a soft challenge and Ref gives a pen……..only this time VAR sends him to the monitor and he decides no pen.Mark my words……
Or… Hwang or Cunha get sent off for diving…
Yeah. More like it !
With Pedro still out it’s hard to see us offering much in the way of an attacking threat.
Defensively? Well we were something of a shambles last week against the team that was bottom of the league. Add to that Spurs’ reputation this season as a gung-ho attacking threat and I fear we may be in for another defeat.
Sorry y’all……
Tough one to call this so I’m spending the weekend on the fence.
Tough one this. Spurs will be itching to get back on track and we did look terrible again against United. I think we will lose this one. Hope Doch gets a run out and can prove spurs wrong to have wasted him though. Also he might be the man to actually finish some of the chances ait nouri and semedo are missing.
Lose brave
We just don’t seem to be able to keep a clean sheet at the moment and Tottenham’s defeat in the week could well spur them on (see what I did there?), so I do expect them to score at least one. On the other hand Spurs will have a second string defence so there’s every chance they’ll let at least one in as well. I’m trusting Gary O’Neil to get his tactics right and for the team to be up for it. The other important factor is the home support and that could make all the difference.
utw.
Spurs’ sick list gives us more than a chance to take three points. There’s an interesting article on The Athletic today about how our attacking play has changed under O’Neil, although I’m concerned about how quickly we can transition up the pitch without Neto. Nonetheless, I think we’ll knick it tomorrow.
COYW x
A good time to play Spurs, and they are probably thinking it’s a good time to play Wolves without Neto. The absence of one player however good is no reason to go downhill. GON is experienced enough to bounce back from that poor show in Sheffield. The disgraceful VAR decisions, one after another, have cost us points, maybe 6-7 ?
If we had Neto in the team I would have been looking forward to playing against the high line that Spurs favour and pulling off a shock 2-1 win. Now I’m backing a score draw. 2-2.
still going to be tough as Spurs have a winning mentality. although, watching their impressive start kind of reminds me of how we used to beat teams under nuno … not that we played a high line … quite the opposite. what it does remind me of though is how teams suddenly found a way of playing against us and we were a bit screwed. Got a feeling that this may happen to Spurs at some point
hopefully tomorrow !!
Hate lunchtime kick offs … such a hassle from london to wolves and still grab a couple in the lych .
.
I’m remaining optimistic!
Let’s try something novel
Send crosses directed to Sasa’s head
I’ll keep repeating – the players must keep their focus, concentrate and be disciplined for the entire 90 minutes (+ 20 or so added). Tough game. We will concede bc we seem to every game. But, we can win it.
It’ll make a nicer journey back to London. It needs to be bc “my” tube line is suspended so have to leave even earlier to get to Euston plus the on the half hour kick off, with the current tendency to add on 20 minutes or so over the 2 halves, means a long wait for the train (and the café in the brand new station is closed bc of the football!) It better be a good game and a Wolves win.
Thanks for bringing the thumbs up/down feature back.
I would like to see a statistical analysis of VAR, broken down into two headings:
1. The percentage of VAR decisions favouring the ‘bigger’ team.
2. The percentage of VAR decisions favouring the home team.
This might detect bias.
Just heard Postecoglou has won Manager of the Month, which can often be the kiss of death for the team concerned. Let’s hope so tomorrow.
Spurs are still going to be a tough nut to crack, even with a (slightly) depleted squad. Nothing is a given, and Wolves need to be up for it.
Fantasy scenario: Wolves 3 up and Fabio coming on at the death and scoring. Whatever our opinions of him – and I, too, have been hugely frustrated by his efforts this season – he is still one of ours.
Fantasy doesn’t always sit well at Molineux. The reality might well be a turgid affair.
Don’t get me talking about foul throws…
Too late, I’ve started – so I’ll finish.
By my calculations, the majority of throw ins (or throws in? I never know which it should be) I’ve seen taken in the Premier League over the last few years should have been classed as illegal.
The law is quite simple:-
At the moment of delivering the ball, the thrower must: stand facing the field of play. have part of each foot on the touchline or on the ground outside the touchline. throw the ball with both hands from behind and over the head from the point where it left the field of play.
Ait-Nouri’s was just taking illegality into the realms of slapstick.
The other (unwritten) law, which Wolves seem not to have read is ‘Try throwing the ball so that your team retains possession’.
Most other teams seem to be able to do this. Why can’t we?
Negativity over now. A weakened Spurs should be there for the taking.
Let’s take ’em!
It all depends on which Wolves team turns up, the one from the second half from the Sheffield game or the one from the Man City game? Or which referee shows up, the good one or the normal biased one!
Five at the back for sure, and agree with team suggested by Thomas. Spurs will not lie down and die, and like a wounded animal, if you give it a chance it can be very dangerous but if you finish the job against an animal that is affected by wounds, we can win. Just be ruthless!!
We are scoring quite frequently now, so confident we will score against Spurs, especially with their wounded defense! A win is a real possibility!!
I’m going for an ‘ almost Clive’
Don’t know why but to remember the old fella
Ange will have his Spurs up for this one and if we can keep in the game we can win it.
Maddison and Richarlison have been our nemesis in the past and fortunately will not feature.
Bellegarde to start in place of Pedro, Sasa is most effective coming in late, Ait and Nelson should be practising their throw- ins – I can’t believe professional footballers have not perfected this basic skill.
Let’s stop whinging about the Ref- I do think they are doing their best, their authority is being continually undermined and need more support from VAR. also let’s give Fabio some support.
2.1 to the lads.
Annoying we’re the team they need a response on.
Good time to play spurs but we are wolves who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity (Hunterism)
I’ve watched postaletters teams in aus and and one thing wolves don’t cope well with is a team that presses for 90mins ,reminds me a bit like keegans Newcastle and we Havnt got netos pace to exploit their attacking backs,let’s hope my predictions are crap as usual
Another hard one to call .. well for me anyway .. I just hope that we don’t think it’ll be a pushover with Spurs having a number of injuries and suspensions.
I thought that we let Sheff Utd off the hook last week with a ‘casual’ display .. and it’ll need something far more dynamic tomorrow..
I didn’t think Sasa starting really worked last week so I’d go with Bellegarde in for Neto ..
Similarly I’d go for Joao Gomes with his high intensity game over Doyle … the rest as per last week .
Neto’s absence will be sorely missed again so I’m going for a draw…
If Wolves remember than can shoot, they have a good chance of getting a result.
Well Spurs got in a battle with Chelsea and came out on the wrong side been playing exciting football but still have Son who normally has a good game against us.
Hopefully GON has a plan and Wolves do the usual ie lose Sheffield and beat Spurs
A trend that seems to be continuing is that the Wolves play to the level of their competition. They play tough against the top tier teams and go to sleep against the bottom tier teams. So with that it’s the usual for me.
.
Even with 9 men they would probably have been to good for us last week the way we played against the blades ,can’t see us winning so a draw for me
Let’s go Wolves!!!
Oops
It’s about time the football gods were on our side for a change.
I hope the Doc gets a look in on this one.
It’s a game we can win.
‘Nuff said…
Whenever Wolves play aside that is known to be depleted , those players seem to play out of their skins and Wolves fail to take advantage.
It is true that we seem to play well against big clubs however.
Clearly Spurs defence will be different. That is not to say weaker, but at least three players will be second choice, and may not be as adept at playing a high line as those they are replacing. Our front three will hopefully have the strength and pace to cause problems, as will Spurs’ forwards. The latest YouTube video of the most recent training session suggests that there has been a focus on shooting and in Silva’s case, heading, with success.
The absence of Maddison will be the biggest bonus for Wolves, as will be the absence of Neto the biggest bonus for them.
However, we should not be relying on one player. Top sides adjust and so must we. On Saturday, eleven players, as they take to the field, must be confident and able to perform the game plan to the best of their ability, and the substitutes must be vigilant as they look on and be ready to take the field and excel when they are called.
and get
Greetings, Cheers Thomas,
Moving swiftly on,,, time for Gazzbo to pick his stripes up in front of the home support.
Fabio is so desperate to repay the £35 mil price tag, he comes on like a dervish in a china shop. Looking up at Sasa as Gazzbo screams ‘compete for that header’ in training, must really squeeze your melon though. Just relax, score your hat trick, all’s rosy in the garden.
Not seen enough of El Doc since he signed up.
Well the Other Guy from Korea is going to score. Apart from that Big Ange is fishing about in the copious spud bag for some replacements, after what went down last weekend.
We’ve beaten them before.
1 lv & COYW
Ange has been like an Angel for Spurs. Gaz has been like an unexpectedly good tradesman. but at the end of the day its all about the players they have at there disposable. Neto has made the Wolves dangerous and Maddison has had a similar effect at spuds.
what’s left, well it was a mixed bag afainst blades, should have gine in two or three up but let’s be honest once Blades got organised we were useless again. I can’t see much changing but you can only live in hope. Maybe we get a dodgy pen in the 12 minutes of stoppage tine.
Not sure whether Spurs only shipping 1 goal in 20min when down to 9 men is a reflection of how good they are or how bad Chelsea are. Looks great on paper even though they did eventually capitulate at the death possibly quite when they went all out for the draw with nothing to lose except a respectable GD, dunno cos i didn’t see any extended highlights. I’m gonna err on the side of Chelsea being that bad with Dawson putting Son in his pocket, Hwang coming out on top in the Korean derby and Bellegarde to shine. We have a great record against Spurs since coming back up and barring Sideshow Bob rearing his ugly head at Stockley Prick and stitching us up for the 5th time this season i’m going for a 2-1 win. Gotta stay positive. I’d like to see Fabio start just to watch all the turbo whingers go into meltdown.
think it’ll be a banger
I’m not buying into all the ‘angeball’ stuff.
They had a favourable fixture list early doors, got given the win against Liverpool and were losing to Sheff Utd until extra time.
Give us the points back from var and we wouldn’t be underdogs for this game , we would probably be down for a draw with most people so that’s what I think will happen.
I watched the spuds v Chelsea game and the only reason it wasn’t six or seven- one was because Chelsea couldn’t time their runs or finish their breakfast once they got through.
If we played that high line with 9 men I’m guessing the headline would have been O’Neill’s extremely naive there! And he only has one way to play, he doesn’t have a plan B
O’neill s wolves. 2
Fat Ange’s spuds 1
A lovely 8-30 Saturday night kickoff for me .
Lest we forget
Come on you wolves
Cunha and Hwang for the 2-1 win, early 7:30am kick off over here!
That crazy game against Chelsea leaves us facing a very different Spurs team to the one that was top of the league. Them losing Maddison is on par with us losing Pedro. They will still field a decent team and will come at us. We need to be a lot better than that 2nd half display against Sheff Utd. Bellegarde comes in for Sasa for me.
We should be able to start our next “undefeated run”
A couple of weeks ago, this would have been a banker loss for us. Hopefully, their misfortunes could balance the scales wth Neto missing and VAR still available.
I reckon with 10 mins to go and the score at 1-1, both teams will settle for a draw.
Interestingly Tim Robinson (todays ref) officiated his first PL match 2/3rds through the season of 22/23 .. Wolves v Spurs no less…
Which we won 1-0 (Adama Traore).
In total this will only be his 9th PL game .. so he’s still a bit raw imo.
Let’s hope he (and Wolves) can repeat past year …
Whenever I see Ange Postecoglou mentioned I am reminded of Angie Dickinson – Police Woman. And to be honest we could do with Police Woman today to arrest Stockley Park when it presides over its latest fuck up. And I mean the whole of Stockley Park. There could then be a trial with Jeremy Kyle going ” So referee Rob Jones. You didn’t tell the FA that the VAR last Saturday was in fact the illegitimate son of WBA striker Lee Hughes. You are corrupt. And I hereby sentence you to eternal hell with a season ticket and executive box (well -shed) at The Poorthorns”. Police Woman will also be in attendance today. Ready to arrest any further corruption from the PGMOL clowns. Ange Dickinson strangely enough sitting directly behind Ange Postecoglou’s dug out. The only time in Molineux history since 1877 that 2 people called Ange are within 10 ft of each other in the stadium. So with the added protection of law enforcement I am going for a draw. WWFC 2 SPURS 2. After the game Gaz said ” After my informal chat with Howard Webb last week I was pleased to see Ange Dickinson -Police Woman on hand to arrest the fuckwits at Stockley Park should they once again screw us over. Ange Dickinson is a great hero of mine” Ange Postecoglou said ” I am really pissed off there is someone else called Ange at the stadium today. Who just so happened to be Police Woman. Still she kept those clowns at VAR in check I suppose’. WWFC 2 SPURS 2.
Too ill to travel there today, but good luck lads; we’re owed some.
I’ll go for a 2-2 draw and hope for better with a good performance. Will have to watch this one on the telly… Grrr!
I hope for at least a draw but even an injury ravaged Spurs have threat
In the Lynch gate enjoying my second beer. C O Y W
No better time to play Spurs although they’re still going to put out a decent side. Both teams looking to bounce back after poor results so I think we’ll cancel each other out.
There will be goals in this. Hwang will be up to demonstrate that he is the King of Seoul and with the help of Ballon Dawson, Son will be quietly pocketed. Beware Greeks bearing gifts, especially those brought up in OZ! Yet another reason why GON strategy must prevail. UTW
Against the high defensive line, the ability to find that telling through ball that breaks the line is vital. So Doyle starting could be just the thing.
Otherwise, as much pace as we can muster and up and at ’em from the start.
Should be a humdinger.
Tough one
Lemina, man of the match, what a finish. A goal and assist to Sarabia, brilliant for him and us. Doyle with an impressive, quick free kick. Buzzing, absolutely buzzing…
Amazing result. I forecast 2-2 for the Prediction League and then had a premonition we would win. As you can see from my betting slip I came up trumps twice.
That’s one in the eye for the fans who leave five minutes before the end of a match.
Well, two in the eye actually.
Lemina was absolute class this afternoon.
Brilliant!
Yeah. Lemina was colossal. Strange game. No real massive chances. Then out of nowhere 2 goals 6 mins at the end. It’s football.
Great day of football..
Barbara got the limoncello out, mixed it with Prosecco…and I was gone ..
You could say .. I saw football from a different angle today ..
I haven’t stop grinning!
Tomorrow will be great day too!
Missed Blackpool and Citeh (train strikes and problems) so this is the FIRST win of the home season for me, super, people were telling me I was getting too excited, no chance.
Domino’s have introduced a new desert called –
Introducing our new dessert: The Spurs Crumble.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/tottenham-dominos-premier-league-wolves-31417182
Nice one.
Wow mad to think that, but for some very appalling refereeing decisions, the same wolves side that I and many others had written off after the transfer window from hell, would be knocking on the door of the top 6.
This is the tastiest of humble pies.