Having both suffered lowly midweek defeats, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur will endeavour to get back on track in Saturday's Premier League contest at Molineux.
Julen Lopetegui's crop fell to a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday evening, while the Lilywhites' bid to end their 15-year trophy drought became all the more difficult as they lost 1-0 to Sheffield United in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Match preview
© Reuters
Familiar faces lined up against one another on the field and in the dugouts at Anfield on Wednesday, as Liverpool and Wolves met for the fourth time in 2023 already, with the West Midlands side seeking to emulate their exhilarating 3-0 success over the Reds from a few weeks ago.
However, lightning would not strike twice for Lopetegui's bottom-half battlers, who were handed a reprieve when Darwin Nunez's opener was ruled out for a foul by Diogo Jota on Max Kilman, but Liverpool continued their assault and netted quickfire strikes through Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah in the final 20 minutes.
With a lack of consistency and ruthlessness still plaguing them, Wolves have taken just one point from the last nine on offer in the Premier League and are in danger of being dragged deeper into the relegation dogfight, occupying 15th place in the table and sitting just three points clear of the drop zone.
Lopetegui made no bones about his side's below-par second-half showing at Anfield - claiming that his side "did not deserve anything" from the game - but an intriguing pattern of home form serves as reason for optimism for the disgruntled Molineux faithful.
Indeed, Wolves have followed a pattern of winning one then losing one at home in their last six matches in all tournaments, and with their most recent Molineux encounter ending in a 1-0 loss to Bournemouth, Tottenham can prepare for another miserable away day if the footballing omens work against them.
© Reuters
In a tale as old as time, another shot at domestic cup glory has gone begging for Tottenham Hotspur, who are now seemingly destined to end another season without bolstering their silverware cabinet courtesy of a dampening defeat at Bramall Lane.
Once again led by Cristian Stellini as Antonio Conte observed from the comfort of his Italian home, a much-changed and lacklustre Spurs succumbed to Iliman Ndiaye's winner with 79 minutes on the clock, ending Stellini's perfect record as an interim manager and closing off another avenue to a long-awaited trophy.
Spurs could still be battling for FA Cup supremacy had an illness-affected Harry Kane not sent a header wide with a gilt-edged chance in the dying embers, and the imminent reunion with Conte - who is expected to return to Hotspur Way later this week - will not be one filled with elation following their Sheffield suffering.
On a brighter note, seeing off a humdrum Chelsea side 2-0 last weekend cemented Tottenham's place in the top four of the Premier League table - four points clear of Newcastle United, who have two games in hand - but Conte's crop have now lost each of their last three away matches and have little time to recuperate before their next road trip.
Tottenham eked out a 1-0 win over Wolves when the two sides met in North London back in August, and not since 2010 have the Lilywhites left Molineux with a defeat to their name, also posting a 1-0 triumph on West Midlands soil last term thanks to a spot kick from the forgotten man, Dele Alli.
Team News
© Reuters
Injury was added to insult for Wolves during their midweek loss to Liverpool, as breakthrough star Hugo Bueno left the field with a hamstring problem in the 24th minute, and Lopetegui has already ruled the 20-year-old out of this match - Rayan Ait-Nouri will deputise.
All of Sasa Kalajdzic, Chiquinho, Hwang Hee-chan and Boubacar Traore remain sidelined with their long-term problems, but Matheus Cunha could make a rapid recovery from an ankle injury to make the squad, and Lopetegui will welcome a healthy selection dilemma in an ailing attack.
Pablo Sarabia in particular failed to cut the mustard at Anfield and was taken off at half time, so Adama Traore may come in from the off against one of his old admirers, while Daniel Podence and Pedro Neto are also waiting in the wings for their chance to shine.
Similarly, Spurs also have their own long-term absentees in Rodrigo Bentancur, Ryan Sessegnon, Hugo Lloris and Yves Bissouma out of contention, but Emerson Royal is expected to shake off the knee problem that kept him out of the FA Cup.
With Conte now expected to return for next week's Champions League clash with AC Milan, Stellini should oversee a multitude of changes, including a recall for Harry Kane, whom the Spurs assistant revealed had been struggling with several viral afflictions in recent weeks.
Another underwhelming showing for Richarlison should spell the end of his time in the first XI, while Oliver Skipp, Clement Lenglet and Cristian Romero are all in line for recalls.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Ait-Nouri; Lemina, Neves; Traore, Moutinho, Podence; Jimenez
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Forster; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Emerson, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Davies; Kulusevski, Kane, Son
We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Reverting to the system and personnel that admirably kept Chelsea at bay should do the trick for Tottenham this week, as Wolves' ironic lack of bite bedevils them against Conte's refreshed regulars.
Even with Molineux superstition and concerns over Kane's fitness working against them, if Tottenham can replicate last weekend's defensive display, the Lilywhites should travel back to North London with a hard-earned three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
