WEST BROMWICH ALBION v TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Barclays Premier League
Sunday 3rd February 2013, 1:30pm
The Hawthorns

MATCH NOTES

This is the 135th league and cup meeting between Albion and Tottenham Hotspur.

Albion and Spurs have met once before on February 3, the two teams playing out a 0-0 draw in a League Cup tie at The Hawthorns in 1982.

Jerome Thomas will make his 100th appearance in Albion colours if he plays a part in the game.

Albion have lost five and drawn two of their last seven league and cup games.

Spurs are unbeaten in their last eight league matches, their last defeat came at Everton on December 9.

Albion's last six games: Everton (A) 1-2; Aston Villa (H) 2-2; QPR (H FAC) 0-1; Reading (A) 2-3; QPR (A FAC) 1-1; Fulham (H) 1-2

Spurs' last six games: Norwich City (A) 1-1; Leeds United (A FAC) 1-2; Manchester United (H) 1-1; QPR (A) 0-0; Coventry City (H) 3-0; Reading (H) 3-1

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Peter Odemwingie will not be considered for selection due to his falling out with the club over his attempts to leave during the transfer window.

Youssouf Mulumbu could be available after returning to The Hawthorns from African Nations Cup duty but faces a late fitness test on a knee problem.

Young midfielder George Thorne has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Squad: Foster, Myhill, Daniels, Reid, Jones, Olsson, McAuley, Tamas, Popov, Ridgewell, Dorrans, Mulumbu, Yacob, Brunt, Morrison, Thomas, Long, Lukaku, Fortune, Rosenberg, Nabi.

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs' striker Jermain Defoe has been passed fit after overcoming a niggling pelvic injury.

Midfielder Tom Huddlestone (leg) is also fit, but striker Emmanuel Adebayor (African Nations Cup), defender Younes Kaboul (knee) and midfielder Sandro (knee) are all ruled out.

Squad: Lloris, Friedel, Walker, Naughton, Dawson, Gallas, Vertonghen, Caulker, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Sigurdsson, Livermore, Dempsey, Parker, Dembele, Huddlestone, Holtby, Bentley, Bale, Defoe, Kane

QUOTES

Albion head coach Steve Clarke:

“November was a really good month for us. December was average and January has been a really poor month for us, so I’m glad it’s February and we can try and move on.

“The players have lost a little bit of confidence - it happens when you lose games. Some of the performances have been okay but we haven’t got the results. It’s time for us as a group of players, me and my staff to rally round.

“Maybe we can even use some of the events that have unfolded this week as a stimulus to try and look forward and get back to the form we were in earlier in the season. It can be difficult sometimes just to pick your form up straight away but somehow we need to find a way of getting results. The quicker we do that, the quicker we get to our first target, which is still 40 points, and we can reassess then and see how many points we can accumulate.

“We still have the possibility to make this a very, very good season for West Bromwich Albion Football Club. And that’s what we’re all going to endeavour to do over the next few weeks.

”Andre is a good coach. He had a difficult time at Chelsea and I’m pleased he got the chance to come back in at Tottenham. He’s done really well with a fantastic group of players.

“He has come in and done his job really well. The team play good football, they’ve got some fantastic individuals and it’s a great challenge for us. It’s a game I think most people will expect Tottenham to win. But they’re coming to The Hawthorns where we have got a really good record this year. And it’s a challenge my players are ready for.”

wba.co.uk

Spurs' boss André Villas-Boas:

“We have to have a brighter start than the one we had at Norwich. We have to be in the faces of West Brom a bit more aggressively.

“It was good in the end that we managed to come back into the game against Norwich and that set the example of what we have to do against West Brom.

“We have to make a bright start with the same passion we showed in the second half at Norwich.

“It’s difficult for them because they started so well, you almost have people blaming them for a recent bad run of results.

“They sit ninth, in a comfortable position and they are living in a moment where they are being criticised for what they achieved earlier in the season, and that’s unfair. Even though results haven’t been going their way, they are still a very good team.”

tottenhamhotspur.com

MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 12/5, Tottenham Win: 23/20, Draw: 9/4.

First Goalscorer

Defoe 5/1, Lukaku 6/1, Long 7/1, Bale 7/1, Dempsey 7/1, Obika 8/1, Holtby 9/1, Fortune 10/1, Rosenberg 10/1, Sigurdsson 10/1, Morrison 11/1, Mason 12/1, Brunt 14/1, Dorrans 14/1, Thomas 14/1, Lennon 14/1, Dembele 16/1, Carroll 20/1, Parrett 20/1, Vertonghen 20/1.

REFEREE

Mark Clattenburg (County Durham)

Has refereed two Albion games so far this season, the 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester City in October and the 1-1 draw in the FA Cup against QPR last month at Loftus Road.

Clattenberg took charge of two Albion games last season - The 2-1 win at Blackburn Rovers in December and the goalless draw against Aston Villa at The Hawthorns in April.

The County Durham official has refereed one Spurs' game this season, the 4-0 win at Aston Villa on Boxing Day.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for the game will remain on general sale to home fans only until kick off.

Seats for the category A clash are priced £39 adults, £29 seniors, £25 under-21s/students and £15 under-17s.

WEATHER FORECAST

Cloudy with a 20% chance of rain, 8°C.

FIXTURE HISTORY

Albion's last win in top flight action at White Hart Lane came almost 28 years ago in November 1984, Derek Statham (pen), Steve MacKenzie and David Cross the scorers in a 3-2 victory.

The Baggies have won only two of 13 Premier League matches against Spurs, and none of the last six.

LAST MEETING AT THE HAWTHORNS

Albion 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 26th November 2011, 3.00pm

Albion: Foster, Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Shorey, Brunt, Mulumbu, Morrison, Thomas (Tchoyi 87), Gera (Cox 21), Long (Odemwingie 72). Subs not used: Fulop, Dorrans, Jones, Scharner.

Goalscorer: Mulumbu 10.

Booked: Mulumbu, Brunt.

Tottenham Hotspur: Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Parker, Sandro (Livermore 80), Bale, Adebayor, Defoe. Subs not used: Cudicini, Gallas, Bassong, Kane, Pienaar, Fredericks.

Goalscorers:  Adebayor 25, Defoe 81, Adebayor 90.

Booked: Sandro.

Attendance: 24,801

Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)

Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor took his goal tally to four in six days as Harry Redknapp's side kept up their push for a Champions League spot at the expense of West Brom at the Hawthorns. Albion were given an early lead through Youssouf Mulumbu's header but levelled through Adebayor after his initial penalty had been parried by Ben Foster. Jermain Defoe struck his seventh goal of the campaign with nine minutes remaining and then Adebayor, on target twice against Aston Villa on Monday, added a third in injury time.

It was no more than Tottenham deserved after dominating the second period and they have now picked up 28 points from a 10-game unbeaten league run in their push for a place in the Champions League. They always threatened when they pushed forward as Albion ran out of steam and were unable to maintain the high tempo performance which served them well in the opening half. Adebayor was a constant menace while midfielder Scott Parker was more of an influence in the final 45 minutes.

Albion keeper Ben Foster looked unconvincing when fumbling a low 30-yard drive from Sandro around the post But after 10 minutes Mulumbu put Albion ahead with his first goal of the campaign. Zoltan Gera turned the ball back to Steven Reid whose cross was met by the unmarked Mulumbu who glanced a header past Brad Friedel into the corner of the net. Albion suffered a setback after 20 minutes when Gera went down clasping his left knee unchallenged. He was unable to continue after treatment and was replaced by Simon Cox. Sandro became the first player to be yellow carded a minute later for a challenge on James Morrison. After 26 minutes Adebayor put Tottenham level with his sixth goal of the campaign. Referee Lee Probert awarded a penalty after Aaron Lennon was pulled back by Nicky Shorey, the third Albion have conceded in their last three home games. Adebayor's spot-kick was blocked by Foster but the on-loan Manchester City striker converted the rebound. Albion appealed in vain for a penalty after Kyle Walker challenged Thomas but it was an optimistic shout as there appeared little contact. Foster held on to a curling attempt from Defoe while Albion defender Gareth McAuley was adjudged to have fouled Friedel as Albion claimed he had carried a Reid cross over his own goal-line. Mulumbu was booked for dissent after making his feelings known to referee Probert when brought down by Sandro. Friedel blocked a low shot from Mulumbu with his legs after he had made a purposeful run.

Tottenham made a bright start to the second period and Parker teed up an early chance for Adebayor. But Foster was equal to his rising shot which he parried out. Cox should have done better when unmarked but he headed straight at Friedel from Morrison's inviting centre. Reid came to Albion's rescue when he cleared Defoe's goal-bound shot from a narrow angle after he had evaded Olsson and Foster. Foster made another fine save to block a point-blank range effort from Adebayor after a deflected cross from Bale had broken to him. Brunt was booked for hauling back Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

Roy Hodgson made his first change after 72 minutes with the limping Long replaced by Peter Odemwingie. Reid made a crucial tackle to take the sting out of an Adebayor shot which trickled through to Foster. At the other end Brunt fired over from 10 yards out after a pull-back by Thomas as Albion came more into the game. With nine minutes left Defoe beat Foster with a low drive from an Adebayor flick after the Baggies defence back-tracked. Defoe then had another close range attempt deflected wide and Adebayor shot past the post from close range. Adebayor made it 3-1 in stoppage time from a Bale pass.

Sporting Life

CURRENT CONNECTIONS

Spurs' goalkeeping coach Tony Parks spent a short time in the same role at The Hawthorns.

PAST CONNECTIONS

Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: Gerry Armstrong, Freddie Cox, Garth Crooks, Tom Evans, Ruel Fox, Márton Fülöp, Charlie Hewitt, Colin Lyman, Chris Perry, Graham Roberts and Steve Walford.

ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

LAST TEN MATCHES AGAINST TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR