Match Preview: Tottenham Hotspur v Wolves

THFC1882 presents another guest writer. This time it’s a guy I’ve known on Twitter for a while and he’s always got something to say on our beloved Tottenham Hotspur. It gives me great pleasure to present Kenny Palmer with a preview of this weekend’s game:

Wednesday’s victory over Everton in the postponed game in hand from the start of the season has left Spurs level on points with Manchester United and 3 off leaders Manchester City. The win also took Spurs 8 points clear of Chelsea in 4th and a further point ahead of North London rivals Arsenal in 5th. Mind the gap!

Saturday is the 3rd of successive home games. Any side managed by Mick McCarthy is always competitive illustrated by their narrow defeat to Chelsea and a well-earned draw against Arsenal at the Emirates. Despite the good performances against Arsenal and Chelsea Wolves still find themselves languishing in 16th position and just a point ahead of 18th placed Bolton in the relegation position. They have won just two of their last 18 Premier League games and have gone 17 games without a Premier League clean sheet which bodes well for Spurs who have scored in the last 19 games.

Wolves normally line up with a 5 man midfield when at home so expect a similar formation on Saturday at the Lane. Arsenal loanee and Mr. T look alike Emmanuel Frimpong will form a combative central midfield alongside Karl Henry. Wolves will look to unsettle Spurs with some robust tackling so it is hoped the game is officiated by a strong referee. Mick McCarthy will probably start with the hard working Kevin Doyle as the lone striker and bring on the in-form Steven Fletcher late in the game. Creativity will come from the flanks from the industrious Jarvis and Adam Hamill. Fletcher is Wolves main goal threat with 5 goals in his last six Premier League starts. Spurs old boy Jamie O’Hara is out injured; Wolves other main injury doubt is Roger Johnson who has been woeful since his move from Birmingham.

Spurs come into the game brimming with confidence after Wednesday’s impressive victory over Everton. The game saw the Premier League return after injury of Michael Dawson and Aaron Lennon. Dawson was excellent putting in a consummate defensive performance marshalling the defence superbly. His return should quell the calls to go into the transfer market for Christopher Samba. This would be a needless signing, along the lines of Steven Pienaar, as Spurs are more than adequately covered at centre back with the consistently excellent Kaboul, Bassong contributing and Gallas and King to return.

Wednesday’s game was also notable for Jake Livermore’s’ solid performance in central midfield more than adequately deputising for the injured Scott Parker and Sandro. Even if fit I expect Redknapp to rest Parker for the upcoming titanic game against Manchester City on the 22nd. I expect Redknapp to go with the same team that won against Everton although Redknapp may be tempted to rest van der Vaart, who played the full 90 minutes and bring in Defoe. Van der Vaart had an exceptional game on Wednesday combining craft; we saw a full range of his passing ability and graft, yes graft a continuation from his WBA performance adding a facet we weren’t aware he had in his game. Defoe would be a more than able replacement, scoring 4 goals in five Premier League appearances against Wolves and would be confident scoring against a somewhat static central defensive partnership of Roger Johnson and Jody Craddock.

Prediction

This is uncharted territory for Spurs, six points better than anybody over their last 18 matches. Dare we dream? The team Redknapp has assembled has eclipsed Burkinshaw’s Cup team of the 80’s and Pleats 86–87 team of nearly men. The form Spurs are in has brought optimism and expectation, which is unusual for Spurs fans. A win will put Spurs level on points with Manchester City. Spurs go into the game having gone unbeaten in 9 home games and kept clean sheets in 5 of the last 6. I’m going for a similar score line to when the teams last met at the Lane 3-1 to Spurs!

To echo the sentiments of Younes Kaboul and Aaron Lennon post match against Everton: Keep the run going!

COYS

Kenny Palmer (Follow Kenny on Twitter @KennyPalmer )

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