The best Christmas time Wolves v Spurs games including four-goal thriller for Wembley place

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Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur are in Christmas football action on Sunday as Spurs boss Jose Mourinho takes on fellow Portuguese boss Nuno Espirito Santo at Molineux.

The North Londoners and the West Midlanders have faced off 97 times over the years, the first meeting coming in 1908 when Spurs ran out 3-0 winners over Wolves in a Division Two clash.

Both sides have locked horns numerous times in December – here we take a look at some of the best festive games between Wolves and Tottenham over the years.

Spurs 2 – 2 Wolves, 30 December 1972, League Cup semi-final (second leg)

As far as defining Christmas time clashes between Wolves and Spurs go, this one has to be it – a game for the right to contest the League Cup final at Wembley.

Tottenham had won 2-1 at Molineux in the first leg 10 days earlier, with early goals from Martin Peters and John Pratt helping the North Londoners establish their lead.

Wolves levelled the tie in the 38th minute of the second leg thanks to Terry Naylor’s own goal, but Martin Peters equalised for Spurs on 67th minutes with a glancing header.

In the final minute of normal time, John Richards struck to put Wolves ahead on the day and level the tie, meaning extra time.

Despite Phil Parkes pulling off a number of superb saves, Martin Chivers was the hero for Spurs with a 113th-minute equaliser to get his side over the line in a 4-3 aggregate win and to Wembley.

The final, against Norwich in March, proved a more cagey affair, with Ralph Coates netting the only goal of the game on 72 minutes to ensure Spurs lifted the trophy.

For Wolves, it was a devastating deja vu just months after they were beaten by Tottenham in the UEFA Cup final, also by a first-leg Spurs win followed by a second-leg draw.

Spurs 1-0 Wolves, 26 December 1957, First Division

Much like the present day, Spurs and Wolves were in the upper echelons of English football in the mid-20th century.

The North Londoners won the First Division in 1951 and 1961, while the Molineux side were champions of England in 1954, 1958 and 1959.

This match on Boxing Day 1957 is somewhat notable because, in their 1-0 home victory, Spurs became only the second team in the whole season to stop the champions-to-be from scoring.

Wolves were superb that season, scoring 103 goals in 42 league games en route to the title, finishing on 64 points, five points above second-placed Preston.

Spurs, who finished third in the league, triumphed over Wanderers at White Hart Lane in front of 58,393 people thanks to Bobby Smith’s effort.

Spurs 1-3 Wolves, 29 December 2018, Premier League

Fast-forward to the present day and this four-goal thriller saw Spurs’ title hopes take a massive blow as a second-half Wolves goal salvo helped them come from behind to take all three points.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side took the lead at Wembley thanks to Harry Kane’s superb 25-yard strike in the 22nd minute and held onto their lead beyond the 70th minute.

Given Tottenham had won 6-2 and 5-0 against Everton and Bournemouth respectively in their last two games, they looked good value to triumph and go three points behind Liverpool.

Things, however, went terribly wrong for the North Londoners.

Willy Boly’s 72nd-minute header helped Wolves restore parity before Raul Jimenez slotted past Hugo Lloris from the edge of the area to put the visitors in front.

And any Spurs hopes of salvaging anything from the game were put to bed with Helder Costa’s counter-attacking effort three minutes from time.