TEAM NEWS
Serge Aurier is back in training, but Mousa Dembele, Eric Dier, Jan Vertonghen and Victor Wanyama remain on the sidelines. Tottenham’s Dele Alli faces a fitness test on the hamstring injury that ruled him out on Boxing Day.
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo has confirmed Diogo Jota is not yet fit enough to return.
Leander Dendoncker and Kortney Hause will be assessed after they missed the draw with Fulham because of illness.
MOTD COMMENTATOR’S NOTES
@SteveBowercomm: Mauricio Pochettino says his Tottenham team are title ‘intruders’ not ‘contenders’, but there’s no escaping their run and best points tally at the halfway stage of a Premier League season. It’s a sign of the standard that they are still six points from the summit.
There’s real momentum within the club at the moment as they look to build on the 11 goals scored in their last two games alone.
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo has promised his team’s approach won’t change. Their half-term report is a positive one with three wins on the road already. Spurs will also remember being pushed all the way in the corresponding fixture at Molineux.
VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino: “We need to prepare not only physically but also our minds to be strong because it’s going to be tough to compete in the second half of the season.
“It’s so important for the team that we are fighting and in a very good position.
“We were talking that last season was a fantastic season. Now we’re in four competitions when last season we were in three because we were out of the Carabao Cup.”
Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo: “We’ve played already many games against top teams where we have shown that we don’t change our identity.
“We are trying to build something, so when you try to build you do not look at the game like ‘what is the best way to get a result?’
“We’ve shown in previous games that we attack, we have shots on goals against heavy teams. The way we approach against Tottenham is going to be the same.”
LAWRO’S PREDICTION
Tottenham are on a roll at the moment – the goals are flowing and they are playing fantastically well.
I would not be surprised if Wolves create a few chances in this game – Bournemouth managed it at Wembley on Wednesday – but Spurs have built up a head of steam and will be difficult to stop.
Prediction: 2-0
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Wolves have won just two of their previous nine Premier League meetings with Tottenham.
- They are without a win in their last five meetings since a 1-0 victory at Molineux in February 2010.
- Wolves have won just one of their last 12 away games at Tottenham in all competitions.
Tottenham Hotspur
- Tottenham have posted their best halfway return of any Premier League season of 45 points (W15, L4).
- Spurs are without a draw so far this season. The last top-flight side to go longer from the start of a season without drawing a game were Burnley: 27 matches in 1953-54.
- They could equal the Premier League record of scoring at least five goals in three consecutive fixtures, set by Chelsea from May to August 2010 and Manchester City in September 2017.
- Mauricio Pochettino’s side have won 27 Premier League fixtures in 2018. Only in 1960, with 31 victories, have they earned more top-flight wins in a calendar year.
- Tottenham are unbeaten in their last 39 Premier League matches against newly-promoted teams since losing 1-0 versus QPR in April 2012 (W36, D3).
Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Wolves have scored 75% of their 20 league goals in the second half of games this season, the highest proportion in the top flight.
- Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have 26 points at the halfway stage – one more than they managed in the whole of their last season in the Premier League in 2011-12.
- Wolves have won three of their nine away matches this season. They only need one more to match their best return in a Premier League season, set in 2009-10.
- This is their first match at Wembley Stadium since May 1988 in the Football League Trophy final (then Associate Members’ Cup). They beat Burnley 2-0 with goals by Andy Mutch and Robbie Dennison.
- Matt Jarvis was the last English player to score a Premier League goal for Wolves back in May 2012.
