English Premier
2015-12-05 - West Brom v Tottenham Hotspur
West Brom
Tony Pulis has such a strong history in keeping teams in the Premier League that even a slow start for West Brom won't have worried too many people. There are some murmurings of discontent with the style of football that Pulis may advocate, but the manager is aware of the conditions of his job and Chairman Jeremy Peace certainly won't mind as long as West Brom get a piece of the big financial pie that is shared out next season.
It has been a fairly inconsistent season to this point for The Baggies, but they are up in 13th place in the Premier League and have a healthy 8 point lead over the bottom three teams. Surprisingly it has been the form at The Hawthornes that perhaps needs to be improved as West Brom are 2-1-4 at home while scoring 9 goals and conceding 13.
Coming out of the international break has proven positive for West Brom as they have beaten Arsenal 2-1 at home and drawn 1-1 at West Ham United despite conceding the first goal in both games. West Brom might have only won twice at home in the League, but both wins have come in their last 3 games here against Sunderland and Arsenal.
Claudio Yacob is suspended for the home team until next week.
Tottenham Hotspur
There are some real suggestions that the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur might not just be looking for a Champions League spot at the end of this season but could challenge for the Premier League title. Taking part in the Europa League at the same time makes that difficult but you can't question the form Tottenham Hotspur have been providing if there are genuine beliefs they can finish top.
A goalless draw with Chelsea last weekend has left Tottenham Hotspur in 5th place in the Premier League but they are only 4 points behind Manchester City in top spot and 2 points behind rivals Arsenal in 4th. Draws could be a problem for Tottenham Hotspur and they head to the Midlands with a 2-3-1 away record where they have scored 10 goals and conceded 6.
Tottenham Hotspur are unbeaten in7 games in all competitions and they have won 5 of those games although had to settle for a home draw with Chelsea last weekend. The side have won 2 of their last 3 away games in all competitions and also earned a very solid 1-1 draw at Arsenal in their last game on their travels in the Premier League.
Nacer Chadli, Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason may all miss this game but potentially return next week.
Head to Head
Both League games were won by the away side last season in the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur coming away from The Hawthornes with a 0-3 victory.
West Brom have won none of their last 5 home games against Tottenham Hotspur and have lost 3 of their last 4.
Prediction
When you think of a Tony Pulis managed team, the tendency is to think of low-scoring games and a hard to beat side, but West Brom have actually been involved in some cracking games at home.
The pressure is certainly on Pulis to give his team more energy at home rather than on their travels when they can sit back and try and frustrate their hosts. While there have been a couple of low-scoring games here, one of those against Sunderland, 5 of 7 League games at The Hawthornes have seen at least three goals shared out and this is a fixture that has produced goals in the past.
3 of the last 4 games played between West Brom and Tottenham Hotspur here have seen at least three goals going in and I have a real belief this could be another.
West Brom have some pace and energy in the final third that can make them dangerous, but they have also struggled to defend efficiently at times. However they showed in the 2-1 win over Arsenal that the team have character and won't wilt and go away if they fall behind.
It has to be said that Tottenham Hotspur are not the inspired attacking team of a few years ago but are now much better at grinding out results. They won't leave massive spaces open by sending too many men forward, but Tottenham Hotspur will believe they are capable of winning here as Manchester City, Chelsea, Everton and Leicester City have and all of those teams scored at least three times.
I am not sure Tottenham Hotspur can reach that total themselves, but West Brom have shown they can give the top teams problems on their day with the win over Arsenal last time here. That saw all three goals scored in the first half of that game and I do think these two teams have a better chance of reaching three goals shared out than the layers may believe.
The Statistics :
| WBA LAST SIX HOME FORM | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
DATE | RESULT | OPPOSITION | |
| 2015-11-21 | W | 2-1 | H v Arsenal | |
| 2015-10-31 | L | 2-3 | H v Leicester | |
| 2015-10-17 | W | 1-0 | H v Sunderland | |
| 2015-09-28 | L | 2-3 | H v Everton | |
| 2015-09-12 | D | 0-0 | H v Southampton | |
| 2015-08-23 | L | 2-3 | H v Chelsea | |
| TOTTENHAM LAST SIX AWAY FORM | ||||
 |
DATE | RESULT | OPPOSITION | |
| 2015-11-08 | D | 1-1 | A v Arsenal | |
| 2015-10-25 | W | 1-5 | A v Bournemouth | |
| 2015-10-04 | D | 2-2 | A v Swansea | |
| 2015-09-13 | W | 0-1 | A v Sunderland | |
| 2015-08-22 | D | 1-1 | A v Leicester | |
| 2015-08-08 | L | 1-0 | A v Man_Utd | |
| HEAD TO HEAD WBA v TOTTENHAM | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| DATE | HOME | SCORE | AWAY |
| 2015-01-31 | WBA | 0-1 | Tottenham |
| 2014-04-12 | WBA | 3-3 | Tottenham |
| 2013-02-03 | WBA | 0-1 | Tottenham |
| 2011-11-26 | WBA | 1-3 | Tottenham |
| 2010-09-11 | WBA | 1-1 | Tottenham |
| 2008-12-28 | WBA | 2-0 | Tottenham |
The Pick :
West Brom 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
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