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Tottenham Hotspur vs West Brom Preview | Team News, Key Men & Stats

Spurs entertain West Brom at White Hart Lane on Sunday and with both teams desperate for the three points. Tottenham come into the match on the back of three games without a win including in the Europa League whilst the Baggies have yet to taste victory this season and have only scored two goals. Both managers will be keen to bounce back with a win in order to push forward with more crucial games on the horizon

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Pochettino and his men would’ve been devastated after drawing with Sunderland last weekend after leading 2-1 going into the last few moments when a set-piece was inadvertently bundled into his net by Harry Kane. Spurs will have to dust themselves of and after defeat to Liverpool in the previous home match, they will look to bring back the same intensity and determination that swept away QPR in their first home contest.

The Baggies and new coach Alan Irvin have suffered a poor start to the season and sit second bottom of the table, ahead of only Newcastle. Their first two games ended to hard fought draws against Sunderland and Southampton but have seen been outplayed by Swansea and Everton to leave them with two points from their four games, scoring just twice. To get back on track, Irvine will have to motivate his men from a defensive and an attacking point of view to rejuvenate his side going into Sundays clash.

Team News

Tottenham Hotspur

After travelling with the rest of the team to Serbia for their Europa League tie, key defender Jan Vertonghen should be available after resuming training following a muscle problem. That being said, he’ll more than likely start off on the bench with either Fazio or Chiriches partnering newly appointed Captain Younes Kaboul in the heart of defence. Roberto Soldado is still out with a neck injury and Kyle Walker is still not available from his long standing groin problem. Mauricio Pochettino will have a few decisions to make with Bentaleb, Capoue, Dembele, Paulinho and now Stambouli all vying for the two holding positions in midfield. The front four of Eriksen, Chadli, Lamela and Adebayor are likely to keep their places in the team.

West Brom

The Baggies are missing some key players in all areas of the pitch ahead of the game against Spurs. The pacy Stephane Sessegnon has been ruled out indefinitely due to an eye injury whilst fellow midfielder Yusuf Mulumbu has been struggling of late with a hamstring problem. Victor Anichebe is missing with a groin injury which has enabled summer signing Brown Ideye to start the last few games up front. On the flip side, fellow summer recruit Joleon Lescott could make his return to the West Brom line up after recovering from a knee injury. Claudio Yacob could come into the squad to strengthen the midfield and protect the back four and Georgios Samaras could make his full debut after coming on as a substitute in the defeat against Everton.

Possible Line-Ups

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Interesting Facts

  • Christian Eriksen scored in both Barclays Premier League games against West Brom last season.
  • West Brom have not won in the last nine matches against Spurs, drawing five and losing four.
  • The Baggies are also yet to taste victory at White Hart Lane since 1984
  • Saido Berahino remains the only West Brom player to score in the Premier League this season with two goals to his name
  • West Brom have already made four mistakes which have resulting in goals this season, the same total as last season.
  • Etienne Capoue has made the most successful passes in the Premier League this season with 342.

Recent Head to Heads

2013/2014       Sat 12 Apr       West Brom.     3 – 3     Tottenham

2013/2014       Thu 26 Dec     Tottenham       1 – 1     West Brom.

2012/2013       Sun 03 Feb     West Brom.     0 – 1     Tottenham

2012/2013       Sat 25 Aug      Tottenham       1 – 1     West Brom.

2011/2012       Tue 03 Jan      Tottenham       1 – 0     West Brom.

2011/2012       Sat 26 Nov      West Brom.     1 – 3     Tottenham

Key Players

Spurs – Christian Eriksen

Danish international Eriksen was one of the few players who shone out of the summer recruits from last season and immediately stamped his claim as Tottenham’s maestro. The 22-year-old is still very young in his development but holds all the talents that could see him blossom into a player that makes the whole team tick. He managed to notch his first goal of the season against Sunderland and would ideally like to exceed the seven goals he accumulated last season from midfield. The playmaker also set up eight goals from his 68 chances created but has yet to supply any goals from the nine chances created thus far. With set-pieces being his speciality, you can suspect that Eriksen will be creating a lot more chances from his free kicks and corners and may have a significant impact this weekend.

West Brom – Saido Berahino

West Brom have only scored twice in their four matches this season and both of them have gone to 21-year-old Berahino. The Baggies did start off the season too badly with two draws but have yet to score since the opening day of the season, having just lost back-to-back matches against Swansea and Everton. Berahino and his fellow attackers will have to put their foot down and engineer the chances needed to trouble the Spurs defence on Sunday. Having recorded a passing accuracy rate of 89% so far this season, the England U21 international could be the key to a positive West Brom result at White Hart Lane. With a shot accuracy of 57%, the young attacking midfielder does know his way around the danger areas and will to work in tandem with striker Brown Ideye in order to conjure up a few opportunities.

Prediction

I really don’t see West Brom’s poor start to the season coming to an end here but saying that, it won’t be as one sided as most people would suspect. A narrow but comfortable win for Spurs is my best bet.

My Prediction – Spurs 1-0 West Brom

Betting Preview

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