Tottenham welcomed Wolverhampton at home in what was an important match for both teams, who are aspiring to secure the place in the prestigious Champions League for the next season. Spurs were without their two key players in Son and Kane, with the captain Lloris, Sissoko and Lamela also sidelined for injuries, while Wolves’ only noticable absentee was Johnny Castro.

Starting 11

Both team setting up in a 3–4–3 formation

There were no surprises from Nuno Espirito Santo as he set his team up in a 3–4–3, which is a standard formation for Wolves. Mourinho also stuck with the same formation from the previous match in a 2–1 loss against Chelsea. It was a little bit surprising that both Vertonghen and Alderweireld were placed on the bench, despite some form issues. Tanganga started another game, with Dier playing at the central CB role. Dele Alli also came back into the starting eleven, starting as a CF on paper, while N’Dombele was only on the bench. So we had both teams set up in the same formations, which is generally a sign, that no team will have a great tactical advantage.

First half

Spurs quickly started to plant their foot into the game and started to dominate posession. Wolves were set up in a 5–4–1 mid-block, leaving only the CF Jimenez against the 3 CBs of Spurs. That means that Spurs had no problems recycling the ball with a 3v1 overload in the 1st phase. Winks generally didn’t drop into the first line and rather to the side of Jimenez whilst Lo Celso was positioned a little higher and regularly dropped to receive the ball, where he could combine with Aurier and also switch the play to the underloaded left side. A familiar pattern of play of Tottenham, that was also used this match, was to play mainly down the right side where Aurier was pushing up very high (especially in this case, where he had even more freedom due to 3 CBs protecting the space behind him). He looked to interchange with Lucas who was very active in the first 15–20 minutes. He was dropping for the ball, positioned in the right half-space dragging his marker out, although the vacated space wasn’t generally used by any other attackers. Spurs’ front 3 was fluid in the sense that they rotated their positions in the match with Alli unsurprisingly dropping deep often to facilitate play.

13th minute: 1–0

Winks finding Bergwijn between the lines

Spurs quickly took the lead in the 13th minute. Wolves were trying to launch a quick counter-attack but the long ball was unaccurate from Saiss. As a result of that, their shape was still disorganised, as they didn’t have enough time to go back into their defensive block. Winks finds a great pass into the feet of Bergwijn who lays it off to Lo Celso. He then plays a ball into the space of Aurier who drives it low across the goal. Patricio manages to save Alli’s shot, but Bergwijn succesfully puts away the rebound.

After the goal, Spurs were still looking to dominate the ball. The figure rose to 76% by the 20th minute. They were still looking to attack through that right side where Aurier, Lo Celso and Lucas were stationed. When without the ball, Spurs were trying to press Wolves almost man-to-man with the front 3 closing down the CBs and Davies and Aurier engaging with the wing-backs high up the pitch. This of course left the dangerous prospect of Wolves’ front 3 going 3v3 against Spurs’ defence. And that’s what their plan was for the most of the game - long balls over the top to Adama, with Tanganga being tasked to defend him. The youngster was quite successful with him winning 5 aerial duels compared to zero from Adama.

27th minute: 1–1

A nice one-two takes both Aurier and Sanchez out of the game

Wolves’ equalizer came from a quick 1–2 between Vinagre and Jota, who exploited the man-marking of Aurier and Sanchez. Sanchez was too late to step out of defence and therefore afforded Jota space to combine and Vinagre making the run into space. After some bad individual defending Doherty arrives at the place in the right time and slots it home to make it 1–1.

Neither of teams recorded big chances up until the stoppage time, with Wolves opting to wait for a counter and Spurs trying to break down their defensive shape.

45th minute: 2–1

Situation that led to the goal

Spurs’ second goal was quite similar to their first in that they successfully defended Wolves’ long ball and quickly tried to exploit what was an unsettled shape. Again Winks played in Bergwijn who had time and space to turn and play to Alli. Lucas made a great diagonal run to drag the CB away and isolate Aurier 1v1. With a great first touch, he then easily skips past Vinagre and makes it 2-1 just before half-time and again showing his attacking prowess, contributing heavily to both goals.

Second half

The game plan of both teams didn’t change much coming into the second half with Wolves forced to try to take control of the ball as they were trailing 2–1. Their big chance came early with Jota missing a free header via set-piece. On the side other Alli missed a header after Davies’ cross after making his trademark run into the box.

57th minute 2–2

The goal came from a quickly taken free kick in Wolves’ own half. Winks came to press Neves but left huge space behind him which allowed Adama to somehow skip through Sanchez and Tanganga thanks to his ridiculous physicality. Jota made a between the WB-CB run and slotted it home after Doherty’s pass.

Spurs still continued to dominate possession with no registered shots up until the stoppage time.

75th minute 2–3

Things only got worse when a superb run from Jota and individual brilliance from Jimenez put the visitors ahead. Mourinho reacted quickly (but still a little too late), subbing on N’Dombele and Gedson for Aurier and Tanganga which saw Spurs to revert to a lopsided 4atb system with Davies acting as a 3rd CB and Gedson pushed up high. Wolves also switched the system from 343 to 352 with the inclusion of Dendoncker, further congesting the middle and forcing Spurs down the flanks. With no Aurier, this proved to be effective. Spurs only threatened deep in stoppage time with both Lucas’ and Winks’ efforts being blocked.

Conclusion

As mentioned in the beginning, both team lining up in a 343 meant that there were no intricate tactical battles to observe. Wolves were happy to sit off and play long balls aimed at Adama with Tanganga more or less successfully defended his man. Spurs attacked heavily right-sided with having a huge share of possession, something not really common under Mourinho’s tenure.

Wolves picked up the 3 points and levelled with Manchester United on points, overtaking Spurs in the league table. According to Understat.com, the xG amounts for 1.63–2.62 to Wolves which doesn’t paint the real picture, with draw possibly being the fairer result. From Tottenham’s POV it was one of their better games in recent weeks as they showed incentive on the ball and generally showed a better defensive performance, but, it still came at a loss. The next few weeks of congested fixtures will still not paint a real picture of how Mourinho wants to set up his team in the long run, with rotations and injuries playing a key part in this.

On the other side, if they maintain a healthy squad and manage to rotate in the Europa League, Wolverhampton’s dreams of qualifying for the CL are quickly turning into a real possibility, with Nuno Espirito Santo’s well-drilled team showing good form.