Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur

Ange Postecoglou’s career at Tottenham Hotspur has reached a ‘make or break’ point ahead of Spurs’ must-win Premier League trip to Molineux to encounter resurgent Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Under-pressure manager Postecoglou is walking a tightrope after a dismal 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day condemned Tottenham to a fourth loss across their last five Premier League matches (W1). A margin for error in their final league game of 2024 is thin as Spurs lag 11 points behind fourth-placed Forest. In fact, they remain stranded in the lower reaches, diminishing Postecoglou’s chances of becoming the first Tottenham manager in the post-Mauricio Pochettino era to oversee 100 matches. Adding to this sentiment, Spurs’ last home win in the Premier League dates back to early November (D1, L3). Despite netting three goals, Tottenham slumped to defeats to Chelsea (3-4) and Liverpool (3-6)  in their two most recent outings in North London, highlighting a porous backline as the team’s weakest link.

In the meantime, Wolverhampton Wanderers’ decision to replace underperforming manager Gary O’Neil with Vitor Pereira has worked wonders, with the Portuguese tactician turning their fortunes around following a dreadful four-game losing run. Indeed, the ex-Porto boss won his first two league games in charge of the Midlands side by 2+ goals ‘to nil,’ including a 2-0 home triumph against Manchester United on Boxing Day. In doing so, Pereira steered Wolves away from the bottom three for the first time this season, putting them on the brink of three consecutive Premier League victories for the first time since December 2023. That’s a distinct possibility when factoring in Wolves’ eye-catching run of three successive top-flight wins against Spurs.