Tottenham Hotspur host Wolverhampton on Sunday in the first of three final matches for the Spurs this season. Knowing that a place in the Champions League is essentially gone, Tottenham, like Wolves sees this as a dead rubber match. Yes, the Wolves can finish in the top half and Tottenham wants to have some European action next season but the real goals are long gone. Given the context of a game with two teams finishing out the string, what should we look for and expect?
Is Santo bringing the young Wolves?
One of the benefits of being above the relegation zone and not needing to win is the opportunity to play some different players. Over the last few weeks, Nuno Espirito Santo has really been digging into his team and has been rolling out a very young squad.
Last weekend as Wolves beat Graham Potter and Brighton, the average age of the Wolverhampton starting XI was 24. Considering that XI included 33-year-old Rui Patricio in goal and 34-year-old Joao Moutinho in the midfield, the ream was really young.
if you just look at the nine, not including Moutinho and Patricio the average age of the Wolves dropped to just 22. Santo had three teenagers on the pitch last weekend, including both fullbacks and his striker. Ki-Jana Hoever and Rayan Ait-Nouri have been getting a fair chunk of minutes in a back four the last several weeks.
Likewise, Fabio Silva, just 19, has started the last two up top for Wolves and has provided a goal and assist in those 180 minutes.
Whereas Tottenham is likely to be about an average of 27 and likely will not have a player younger than 24 on the pitch, Wolves are likely bringing the youth.
So, the Wolves are likely going with a youth movement and high pressure, so what can we expect from Spurs? Here are two things to look for from Tottenham.
Two things for Tottenham vs Wolves
With the Champions League gone and no more trophies to play for the reality is the pressure should be off for Tottenham. Yes, Spurs are fighting for Europa League but the biggest goals are out the window. With those major objectives gone, there are essentially two things that can happen with the team.
Maybe Tottenham can pull an Arsenal
We know Arsenal has nothing left to play for and now they are playing decent enough football. Seemingly on an annual basis as soon as the chance to actually win anything is gone, here comes Arsenal charging up the table for a strong finish.
Well, now we have Tottenham with virtually nothing to play for, can the Spurs do something similar? Essentially, the Lilywhites can respond in one of two ways, either they show up and play loose and well or they really do not care and essentially do not show up.
Either way, the tight play that has hindered the team much of the season should be absent as the game just does not mean that much in the big scheme of things.
Can Tottenham keep the bottom half down?
When the schedule was set before the season, this match-up looked like a good one, likely to feature two teams fighting for something meaningful. Instead, we have two teams playing out the hand, maybe hoping to create some momentum. Wolves have simply been unable to overcome the loss of Raul Jiminez who the team was built around.
After Diogo Jota was sold to Liverpool in the summer, it was going to Raul Jiminez leading the line for Wolves. Unfortunately, for Jiminez and Wolves, a terrible head injury in December has kept him out ever since and has left Wolverhampton fighting to try and reach the top half.
Tottenham on the other hand, the excuse is simply that the Spurs cannot beat a good team. While the Lilywhites tend to get points versus most of the bottom half, they really struggle against better sides. The question is just how good Wolves will be. With a very young team, they will be hungry, even for a late-season dead rubber game.
The question is which Tottenham shows up and can they put a team they should easily manage in their place. Given Wolves have managed only 32 goals, the third-lowest in the league, getting in front and taking any hope away is the key as always. As we have seen all season, if you let a team hang around anything can happen. Tottenham needs to avoid that and take care of business.