No silver lining likely to Claudio’s suspension

Mauricio Pochettino brings his Tottenham Hotspur side to the Hawthorns this weekend as one of the form sides in the Premier League. Spurs sit second in the form table behind Leicester City having amassed 12 points from the last 18, and having not lost in the Premier League since their opening day defeat at Old Trafford.

However, the fact that the north London side have drawn half of their games this season leaves them outside of the top four but when they do win, they tend to win easily having scored 16 goals in their last four Premier League victories.

Obviously, this is the first time that the clubs have met since the Berahino transfer saga and suggestions are being made that Spurs could be back in for the Albion striker in January. Berahino’s form this season has been less than impressive and he played no part in last week’s match at Upton Park, the first time that he has not been involved in a Premier League game since he returned to the side in mid-September.

Spurs won easily at the Hawthorns last season with Harry Kane grabbing a brace in a 3-0 win avenging Albion’s only Premier League win at White Hart Lane from September 2014. Albion have recorded two wins over Spurs at the Hawthorns, both of them 2-0, but the last of those was back in 2008 when Roman Bednar and Craig Beattie were on the scoresheet.

Team News

There will be a big hole in the Albion midfield this weekend as Claudio Yacob serves a suspension for picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last weekend, while Chris Brunt returns to the side having served his ban last weekend. Pulis has suggested that one or two players have niggles that will need to be assessed, but Ben Foster remains the only injured player.

Spurs’ latest England player, Dele Alli, is available again having been banned for the 0-0 draw with Chelsea while Ryan Mason has been ruled out with an ankle injury. Nabil Bentaleb and Naceur Chadli are also likely to miss out while Alex Pritchard is a long term absentee.

Prediction

Yacob’s absence is massive for Albion as there is no other player that can do the job he has been doing this season protecting the back four. Craig Gardner is perhaps the closest in the squad in terms of style, and it would be refreshing to see him in central midfield where he is more suited, rather than out on the wing where we normally tend to see him.

That alone makes it difficult to see the outcome being anything other than a Spurs win, but I thought the same ahead of the Arsenal match a fortnight ago…

Stat Attack

Current Form

Albion W W L L W D
Tottenham Hotspur W W D W W D

All competitions; most recent game on the right

Last matches

Last meeting

31 Jan 2015 – Premier League
West Brom 0
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Eriksen, Kane (2, 1 pen))

Last win

21 Sep 2014 – Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur 0
West Brom 1 (Morrison)

Last win at the Hawthorns

28 Dec 2008 – Premier League
West Brom 2 (Bednar, Beattie)
Tottenham Hotspur 0
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Albion’s Record against Tottenham Hotspur

Overall Home
P W D L F A P W D L F A
League 124 49 29 46 190 186 62 34 11 17 126 83
FA Cup 11 3 2 6 13 19 6 3 1 2 10 7
League Cup 4 0 1 3 0 7 2 0 1 1 0 1
Other 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 140 53 32 55 205 212 70 37 13 20 136 91

 

Premier League Record
Pld W D L F A Pts
Home 9 2 3 4 12 15 9
Away 9 1 4 4 8 12 7
Total 18 3 7 8 20 27 16

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