(Football news) Tottenham Hotspur will look to maintain their unbeaten start in the Premier League when they face Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday. Antonio Conte’s team are currently fourth in the league table while Wolves are 14th, having drawn one and lost one game so far. Spurs were lucky to have not lost against their London rivals Chelsea as Harry Kane scored right at the end to salvage a point with a 2-2 draw. While luck certainly played a factor, Conte will be wary of Wolves, especially because he won’t be in the dugout for the match after receiving a red card.
Wolves on the other hand have much to celebrate despite not winning a single match so far. The team recently signed Matheus Nunes from Sporting Lisbon and Bruno Lage will hope that the Portuguese midfielder will hit the ground running and make an impact for the team. Wolves are undoubtedly hoping to secure European football this season and buying players such as Matheus Nunes and Goncalo Guedes is a real statement of intent by the team. Wolves also have a decent record against Spurs, winning three of their last four away fixtures with the most recent one coming in February.
In team news for Tottenham, Cristian Romero has a muscle injury and will be unavailable for selection which means one of Clement Lenglet, Davinson Sanchez or Japhet Tanganga will be featuring in the Spurs backline. Antonio Conte is expected to keep Richarlison on the bench while Oliver Skipp has just returned after recovering from a hairline fracture. As for Wolves, Guedes might start ahead of Hwang Hee-chan, but Nelson Semedo, Joao Moutinho and Adama Traore are not likely to feature in the starting XI after their recent injuries. Despite Wolves’ record, a win for Tottenham seems the most likely outcome in this fixture.
In the other major fixture on Saturday, Arsenal will look to make it three consecutive wins when they travel to Bournemouth. The Gunners have had the perfect start to the 2022/23 season, defeating Crystal Palace and Leicester City while Bournemouth defeated Aston Villa but lost to Manchester City last week. The Cherries have a run of difficult fixtures ahead with Arsenal, Liverpool and Wolves on the horizon and they will also be facing Norwich City in the EFL Cup next week. Both teams have very different ambitions as Arsenal are looking to secure the Champions League qualification while survival in the Premier League is the goal for Bournemouth.
In team news, Bournemouth boss Parker said that he will make a late decision on Dominic Solanke while summer signings Ryan Fredericks and Joe Rothwell are unavailable due to injuries. However, Marcos Senesi should be available for selection along with Jordan Zemura who has recovered from COVID-19. As for Arsenal, Reiss Nelson has a hamstring injury and Ben White is expected to feature at right-back while Emile Smith Rowe is expected to be on the bench. Mikel Arteta will select the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus in the starting XI to give the Gunners some firepower. It’s expected to be a close contest between the two sides with Arsenal edging it to continue their winning run.
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