After the masterclass against Manchester City, Tottenham are the only undefeated team in the Premier league this season. Despite arguably lacking 'glamour' names compared to some of the other leading clubs, Pochettino's team are a side that has often outclassed our opponents.
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West Brom vs Tottenham Hotspur - The Hawthornes
Referee: Kevin Friend
Assistants: J Collin, D Cann
Fourth official: M Clattenburg
Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs produced the performance of the season so far in their last outing, dispatching league leaders Manchester City 2-0.
The high-energy display was the first time that Pochettino's side have shown close to the performances that helped them to a third-place finish last season. The result was even more impressive given the absence of regular first-teamers Harry Kane, Moussa Dembele and Eric Dier.
West Brom have only won two matches this season but have picked up draws in their last two away matches. Their last home result was an impressive 4-2 win against struggling West Ham but previously they drew 0-0 with Middlesbrough and lost 2-1 against Everton.
The Opposition
Full Name: West Bromwich Albion Football Club
Nickname(s): The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion
Short Name: WBA, West Brom
Founded: 1878; 138 years ago (as West Bromwich Strollers)
Ground: The Hawthorns
Capacity: 26,852
Owner: Guochuan Lai
Chairman: John Williams
Manager: Tony Pulis
League: Premier League
2015–16: Premier League, 14th
Website: Club Home Page
One to Watch: Nacer Chadli - As Spurs fans we know only to well the danger that the big Belgian can be in front of goal. Having joined the Baggies in the summer, Chadli has 3 goals and two assists in his last 3 games.
The Last 5 - West Brom
Premier League - Sunderland 1-1 West Brom
Premier League - Stoke 1-1 West Brom
Premier League - West Brom 4-2 West Ham
Premier League - Bournemouth 1-0 West Brom
Premier League - West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough
The Last 5 - Tottenham
Premier League - Tottenham 2-0 Manchester City
Champions League - CSKA 0-1 Tottenham
Premier League - Midlesbrough 1-2 Tottenham
EFL Cup - Tottenham 5-0 Gillingham
Premier League - Tottenham 1-0 Sunderland
Poch Says...
Speaking on Thursday, Pochettino made it clear that he wants his team to make sure they live for the moment.
"Every game is different, we'll see what happens on Saturday, but we are aware of the quality that they have," he said.
"For us, it's important to keep the focus in the same way that we played against Manchester City. It's true that it's a different team and they will push us in a different way to Manchester City, but if we want to fight for big things at the end of the season or lift trophies, we need to adapt our game and know that we need to play with a team that plays in a different way."
What are the odds?*
West Brom - 17/4
Spurs – 7/10
Draw – 13/5
*Odds correct with Sky Bet as of Thursday 13th October '16
The Stat Attack
- West Brom have registered just one win in their last 13 Premier League meetings with Tottenham drawing seven and losing five.
- This season, Christian Eriksen has mustered 18 shots in the Premier League without scoring a single goal, more than any other player yet to find the back of the net.
- 45% of the Premier League clashes between these two sides have ended level (9/20); only Everton v Leicester (13/20, 65%) has seen a higher proportion of draws (min 20 games).
The e-Spurs Podcast Says.....
Jason's View
Man City is now in the past, and the importance of moving on from that is huge. For me, as impressive as it was, it’s our form over the previous 47 games (with just 6 defeats) that matters, and it is for that reason we will be in the title race again, not just because of 1 game v Man City. Nothing surprised me, but it has shown our ability to the rest of the country, and we will now fall heavily under the media spotlight.
The game against WBA this weekend will be so far at the other end of the football scale than City. City tried to play which allowed us to, WBA will have no interest in playing football against us, they will do everything to contain us, break our rhythm up, disrupt our play and their sole focus will be on stopping us, and then and only once they have stopped us, will they look to win the game. Dull yes, but all tactics have to be overcome if you want to be champions.
In fairness to WBA, they stopped us better than any side last season, they had the better of the game at the Hawthorns after Dele Alli had scored, and we needed a magnificent Hugo save in the dying seconds, and an equally stunning Danny Rose 1 v 1 tackle to ensure we left with a point, and it was against them at WHL (not away to Chelsea) that our title hopes died off.
They may well be a ‘bogey’ team, albeit one that has beaten us just once in the last 13 Premier League games, but of those 13, 7 have been draws. Only one of those draws felt good for us as Christian Eriksen rescued a point in the 3-3 draw after we had been 3-0 down! Another day of note at the Hawthorns was September 2010, the debut of Rafa van der Vaart (Gallas also debuted that day).
The no goals conceded from open play this season is a great stat to have, but it also means we’ve conceded 3 from set pieces, and we know how much stock Tony Pulis sides put on set-pieces. We’ll need to defend those properly, and we’ll need to make sure Walker, Lamela, and Rose, Son & Eriksen don’t give away silly needless fouls for trips and shirt pulling in the wide areas. Over the 90 mins, I expect them to have at least 8 corners/wide Free kicks so we need to defend those properly and Hugo needs to be very selective in which ones he tries to catch, punch or stick on his line. Having said that, their goal last year with the diving header by James McClean from excellent cross from the byline was as high quality as any we conceded.
My gut feeling is we would benefit from the physical presence that Janssen offers up front and that Dier returning will bring, but that of course means at least 2 changes from the City team. Janssen for a late returning from Argentina Lamela is very possible, but whether Eriksen/Son/Alli/Wanyama will be dropped to allow Dier to return is much harder to predict.
I’m going for a Spurs win, but with WBA to score, a 2-1/3-1 win let’s hope we’re ruthless in front of goal.
Teams News - West Brom
There are no new injury concerns for Albion.
Nacer Chadli could make his first appearance against his old club since joining Albion in August. The Belgian has three goals and two assists in his last three games, a feat matched by our own Son Heung Min.
Teams News - Tottenham
As mentioned, Harry Kane is still missing. Eric Dier should go back into the midfield and Dembele is a doubt. Lamela could miss out after long trips with Argentina this week.
Our prediction: West Brom 0-1 Tottenham
Let us know your thoughts on the game including prediction and scorers below!
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