Tottenham Hotspur v Wolverhampton Wanderers: Mourinho Under Pressure? Scoring Problems to Solve for Spurs Boss in Difficult Wolves Test
The long-term injuries to strikers, Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min have left Tottenham Hotspur, and in particular, Spurs boss, Jose Mourinho with a difficult problem to solve in terms of who will score the goals needed to maintain his side’s hopes of FA Cup glory and Champions League qualification.
Following last weekend’s 2-1 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and considering Tottenham’s solitary goal scorer being Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger’s own goal, leaves the Lilywhites now four points behind their West London rivals in the race for fourth place. Things don’t get much easier for Mourinho’s side on Sunday afternoon, as in-form Wolverhampton Wanderers roll into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – kick: off 14:00 GMT – in another important game for both teams hopes of a top four spot.
Wolves currently sit in eighth place in the Premier League standings, but are just one point behind their Sunday opponents, and just five points behind Chelsea, so Nuno Espirito Santos’ side are bang in the mix for the race of top four honours this season. With one defeat in their last six league outings, and their having one foot into the last-16 of the Europa League, Wolves will pose a serious threat to a potentially toothless Tottenham side.
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Event Date: March 1, 2020
Match Odds
Perhaps, a slightly surprising statistic since Wolverhampton Wanderers returned to the Premier League last season, is that the away side has won all three meetings between the two clubs since. Wolves grabbed a 3-1 win at Tottenham’s temporary Wembley home last year to stun the home side who led at half-time with a goal from Harry Kane. By contrast, this seasons’ reverse fixture saw a dramatic late winner from defender, Jan Vertonghen to give Spurs a 2-1 victory back in December.
Tottenham are the bookmakers’ favourites to complete the double over Wolves this season, and Mourinho’s men can be backed at the best industry odds at the time of writing of 17/11 with Sport Nation. Spurs have won eight of their 13 previous Premier League home games this season, and they will hope to make it four consecutive home league victories, with a win on Sunday afternoon.
To continue the trend of away victories between these two sides, Wolves can be backed at 11/5 with Unibet and SportingBet. Following their 2-1 defeat against Liverpool last month, Wolves have not conceded a single goal in their last four games. For information purposes, this article has been compiled before their Europa League second leg against Espanyol, so that statistic can either be broken or enhanced before Sunday’s game, but it also highlights the solid work being done by the boys from Molineux.
The Draw is the narrow outsider of the three possible outcomes in the Match Betting market at 9/4 with SportingBet. Only Arsenal have drawn more Premier League games than Wolves this season with 13 matches ending in stalemate for the Gunners. Nuno’s side are narrowly behind with 12 draws, and another contest ending in deadlock could well be the shrewd play in this game on Sunday afternoon.
Individual Goal Scorers
A significant indication of Tottenham’s lack of goal threat for this game comes in the First Goalscorer betting market as Wolves’ Mexican striker, Raul Jimenez heads the betting to open the scoring at 5/1 with VBet. The 28-year old has hit 12 Premier League goals so far this season and was on the scoresheet in his most recent league outing against Norwich, which highlights his recent good form.
Lucas Moura and Dele Alli are Tottenham’s first interest in this market at 6/1 and 7/1 respectively with Unibet and VBet for Moura, while the 7/1 on Alli to score first can be had exclusively with VBet. Both Moura and Alli are not recognised as centre forwards, but needs must for Mourinho and his team.
New signing, Steven Bergwijn is a 15/2 chance with Unibet and 888Sport, but he is another player who prefers to play via the wings. Mourinho has already snubbed the opportunity of blooding the young Irish striker, Troy Parrott, but the Irish forward can also be backed at 15/2 with Unibet and 888Sport for information purposes.
Diogo Jota is a man on a hot streak in a Wolves jersey in recent matches with five goals in his last two appearances (again before Thursday’s Europa League game against Espanyol). Jota can enhance his excellent recent form with the first goal here at 8/1 with Betfred and 888Sport.
A pair of players to look for at bigger odds include Wolves’ flying wide-man, Adama Traore who is an 11/1 chance with Betfred. Traore has become one of the most dangerous attacking players in the Premier League this season, and he is an obvious threat to the Tottenham defence. Tanguy Ndombele has had an indifferent maiden season in the Spurs engine room, but the French international could break the deadlock in this game at the tempting price of 20/1 with VBet.
Other Side Bets
The bet of the whole game for us is in the Under / Over Goals market with Under 2.5 goals being of obvious appeal at 13/19 with SportNation and VBet. We have already discussed the issues that Spurs have in scoring goals in the absence of Kane and Son, while Mourinho is likely to set his team up with a pragmatic approach in terms of nullifying the Wolves’ attacking threat. This bet is not a ‘get rich quick’ scheme by any means, but three goals in this game is highly unlikely to happen in our view.
If we perm together our view of the game ending in stalemate, and the chance of less than three goals, then Betfred and Betway offer the Match to end in a Draw and Under 2.5 goals at 11/4. This seems to be a little stingy on the value element, in relation to the 9/4 on offer for the Draw after ninety minutes itself, however, it could be a likely winner in what promises to be a tight contest in our view.
Our Correct Score offering for this contest is for a 1-1 draw at full-time. Sadly, this outcome is the market leader in the Correct Score market, at 11/2 with SportingBet, but it could prove to be a profitable wager.
Best Bets:
- Under 2.5 Goals in the Match at 13/19 with SportNation
- Match Result to be a Draw at 9/4 with SportingBet
- Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Correct Score bet at 11/2 with SportingBet.
