Friday, September 9, 2011

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10.09. (Sat) 16:00 Wolverhampton Wanderers - Tottenham Hotspur

PROBABLE LINEUPS

WOLVES
Hennessey
Stearman, Johnson, Berra, Ward
Hunt, Henry, O’Hara, Jarvis
Fletcher, Doyle


TOTTENHAM
Friedel
Walker, Kaboul, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto
Lennon, Kranjcar, Parker, Modric, Bale
Defoe

Both teams have a number of injuries to squad players to contend with. Wolves are missing Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Dave Edwards and have doubts over the availability of Matt Jarvis. Mick McCarthy will probably play the same side again which would mean Jamie O’Hara lining up against his former side.

Tottenham could welcome back Ledley King into their squad, but are definitely without Rafael Van der Vaart due to a hamstring tear. Harry Redknapp will have to decide whether to play new signings Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor as they look to respond to their 5-1 defeat against Manchester City.

DID YOU KNOW?

Wolves have only won once at home against Saturday's visitors since 1981

It was 3-3 in the corresponding fixture in March last year, with Jermain Defoe scoring his first two league goals of the season. Spurs won 3-1 at White Hart Lane

Overall, Wolves have hosted Tottenham 40 times in league matches and can boast 21 wins compared to 11 for the north Londoners

These sides met in the 1972 Uefa Cup final, which Spurs won 3-2 on aggregate

Jamie O’Hara, who is expected to start for Wolves, played 56 times for Tottenham, including in the 2009 League Cup final defeat to Manchester United, and scored seven times

Wolves have only lost once in their last eight matches in all competitions – Blackburn at home on the final day of last season

Steven Fletcher has scored five times in the last seven league matches

Wolves still have some way to go to match their unbeaten start in the 1992-3 season where they were not defeated in their first 12 matches, albeit it in Division One (now the Championship)

Tottenham have a habit of poor starts in recent history: in 2006 and 2007 they earned four points from their first six games and under Juande Ramos in 2008 that total was two points in 10 matches before he was sacked

Emmanuel Adebayor has scored 10 times against Tottenham since joining Arsenal in January 2006. Last season Tottenham’s strikers managed only 18 league goals between them

Prediction
Expect a game with plenty of chances and lots of goals too. Wolves are a settled side, with a good balance between attack and defence, and are playing with lots of confidence. However, they should be matched by a Spurs team who have added the defensive shield of Scott Parker and have strikers looking to cement a first-team spot.
Editor's Prediction
Wolves 2-2 Tottenham