Wolves vs Tottenham preview: Spurs look to bounce back at Molineux

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo has praised Mauricio Pochettino ahead of his side's Premier League clash with Tottenham, live on Sky Sports.

Tottenham, who had made their best ever Premier League start prior to Monday's defeat to Manchester City, will be trying to get their campaign back on track at Wolves on Saturday night.

Spurs didn't spend anything in the summer to strengthen their squad but Nuno believes Pochettino deserves credit for the job he is doing.

"Success cannot be measured with the number of titles. The how is very important," Nuno said. "Tottenham are very competitive. What I admire is what I see on the pitch and I see a very good team.

"I know him and I admire him. The quality of the work they've been doing is amazing. I know they are very strong opposition. We are conscious we are going to face one of the best teams in the league. There's no doubt about it.

"The quality of their manager, their squad, the players who have been in the club for a couple of years - the routine Tottenham have is very strong. We have to be ready for it."

Meanwhile, Pochettino feels they are "so close" to winning trophies but called for patience as he reiterated his commitment to the club.

Spurs' last trophy was the League Cup in 2008 and they have not won a league title since 1961, coming closest under Pochettino in 2017 as they finished as Premier League runners-up.

"I think we're so close to getting the last level, but we need to have that patience that makes us stronger," said the Spurs boss.

"I think we're strong enough to sort out all the problems and in the end to achieve what the club and fans deserve. In the end all we want to achieve one day is to win trophies."

Team news

Wolves forward Diogo Jota is sidelined with a minor problem, although boss Nuno refused to reveal the exact issue.

Jota was a substitute in last week's 1-0 defeat to Brighton, meaning Wolves may yet be unchanged.

Tottenham will be without Eric Dier and Danny Rose at Wolves.

The England pair have respective thigh and groin injuries and will not play before the international break.

Victor Wanyama (knee) and Jan Vertonghen (hamstring) also continue to miss out.

Opta stats

Wolves are winless in their last four Premier League meetings with Tottenham (D2 L2) since winning both games against them in the 2009-10 season.
Tottenham have won four of their last six top-flight games against Wolves at Molineux (D1 L1).
This will be the fourth Premier League game kicking off at this timeslot on a Saturday, after Southampton 4-0 Arsenal (26/12/2015), Leicester 2-2 Man Utd (23/12/2017) and Tottenham 1-3 Man City (14/04/2018).
Tottenham are unbeaten in their last 38 Premier League games against promoted sides (W35 D3). Wolves were the last promoted side to beat Spurs twice in the same season (2009/10).
Wolves have failed to score in their last two league games - they have never failed to score in three consecutive league matches under Nuno Espirito Santo.
Spurs have won 71 per cent of their Premier League points this season (15/21) in away matches - only Crystal Palace (75 per cent) and Newcastle United (100 per cent) have a higher percentage.
Wolves have won none of their last 24 Premier League matches against sides starting the day in the top half of the table (D10 L14) since winning 1-0 against Man Utd in February 2011.
Tottenham had just four shots in their previous Premier League match against Man City - their fewest in a game under Mauricio Pochettino; they last had as few as four in January 2014, also against Man City.
Despite playing just 250 minutes of Premier League football this season, no player has completed more dribbles than Wolves' Adama Traore (24) - the only player with as many is Chelsea's Eden Hazard, who has played 417 more minutes.
Since the start of the 2014/15 season, Tottenham's Harry Kane has scored 25 Premier League goals against newly promoted sides - six more than any other player.

Merson's prediction

Spurs' win at West Ham was a good result, considering the changes, but Monday night's game against Manchester City was strange. It felt like an exhibition game.

Tottenham are fighting for the top four, so this is a big game for them. I think Wolves have hit a brick wall, if I'm honest. We wax lyrical about how great they are at passing it around, but I worry for them in front of goal.