TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR v WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Barclays Premier League
Thursday 26th December 2013, 3:00pm
White Hart Lane

MATCH NOTES

The game will be the 137th league and cup meeting between Albion and Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs have a slight edge in terms of victories with 54 compared to the Baggies' 52.

Albion and Spurs have met three times before on Boxing Day - the first game taking place in 1955 when the Baggies travelled to White Hart Lane and lost 4-1. The second meeting on December 26 came in 1963 when the teams shared eight goals in a thriller at The Hawthorns, whilst the third game, in 1966, and again at The Hawthorns, saw Albion run out 3-0 winners thanks to a Tony Brown hat-trick.

Spurs' last defeat on Boxing Day came in 2003 when they lost 2-0 to Portsmouth at Fratton Park. Since that defeat they have played eight games on December 26,  winning six and drawing two.

Albion's last six games: Hull City (H) 1-1; Cardiff City (A) 0-1; Norwich City (H) 0-2; Manchester City (H) 2-3; Newcastle United (A) 1-2; Aston Villa (H) 2-2

Spurs' last six games: Southampton (A) 3-2; West Ham United (H, LC) 1-2; Liverpool (H) 0-5; Anzhi Makhachkala (H, EL) 4-1; Sunderland (A) 1-2; Fulham (A) 1-2

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Stand-in boss Keith Downing has a fully-fit squad to choose from with the exception of striker Victor Anichebe who is doubtful with a groin injury.

Squad: Foster, Myhill, Daniels, Jones, Ridgewell, Olsson, McAuley, Lugano, Brunt, Sessegnon, Amalfitano, Mulumbu, Berahino, Yacob, Anichebe, Vydra, Long, Anelka, Morrison, Popov, Dawson, Reid, Sinclair, Gera, Rosenberg.

Tottenham Hotspur

New Spurs’ boss Tim Sherwood will be without Aaron Lennon (abdomen), Harry Kane (back), Younes Kaboul (thigh), Paulinho (suspended), Andros Townsend (hamstring) and Jan Vertonghen (ankle), but midfielder Mousa Dembele should be available despite twisting his ankle in last weekend's win over Southampton.

Squad: Lloris, Friedel, Walker, Naughton, Rose, Fryers, Dawson, Chiriches, Capoue, Dembele, Sigurdsson, Eriksen, Chadli, Bentaleb, Fredericks, Lamela, Holtby, Adebayor, Defoe, Soldado.

QUOTES

Albion caretaker boss Keith Downing:

“I think we’ve witnessed in the last couple of games Tottenham have been very open and very attack-minded. I went down to watch them against West Ham, admittedly there were a few changes because it was a cup game, but their philosophy was very much attack-minded and a positive approach. It was very much like Spurs under Harry Redknapp with two wingers attacking at pace. I wouldn’t imagine there will be much change to that. They’ll target our game as a home win so we need to defend very well and be strong and resolute.

“Results dictate people’s moods. Confidence has to be an issue. How you get people to change their confidence and get upbeat is obviously about results. That’s the be-all and end-all. At the moment there is just that little uncertainty. Once everything is sorted I think things will settle down pretty quick.

“I’ve changed a little bit of the training schedule to try and make things a little bit enjoyable and to relax them a little bit. It's about putting the work in and relaxing at the same time - trying to get that balance between work and enjoyment. I’m a great believer you should look forward to coming in. In fairness there’s a better buzz about it this week."

www.wba.co.uk

Spurs' defender Danny Rose:

“It’s going to be a good game for us as we’ve just got a big result against Southampton away so everyone is looking forward to it and I think it’s fair to say we’re looking to win three points.

“Southampton away was a fixture a few people might not have fancied us in, but we’ve got a new manager and everyone wants to give that extra 10 per cent. Naturally when a new manager comes in everyone wants to fight for their place.

“We’ve got two home games where we’re fully expecting to win three points from each. If we do that it puts us in a very nice position going into the New Year.”

www.tottenhamhotspur.com

MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 5/1, Tottenham Win: 8/15, Draw: 3/1.

First Goalscorer

Albion: Anelka 8/1, Long 8/1, Anichebe 9/1, Sessegnon 10/1, Berahino 11/1, Vydra 12/1, Sinclair 14/1, Brunt 16/1, Morrison 16/1, Gera 16/1, Amalfitano 20/1, Mulumbu 20/1, McAuley 25/1, Yacob 33/1, Dawson 33/1, Jones 33/1.

Tottenham Hotspur: Defoe 7/2, Soldado 7/2, Adebayor 9/2, Chadli 13/2, Lamela 7/1, Sigurdsson 7/1, Holtby 9/1, Eriksen 9/1, Lennon 14/1, Dembele 16/1, Vertonghen 20/1, Sandro 20/1, Capoue 20/1, Kaboul 25/1, Rose 33/1, Walker 33/1, Chiriches 33/1.

www.williamhill.com

REFEREE

Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)

Taylor refereed one Albion game last season - the 1-1 draw against Aston Villa at Villa Park in September.

The Cheshire official also took charge of one Spurs' game last season - the 2-1 win at Swansea City in March.

Taylor has issued 44 yellow and two red cards in his 13 games so far this season.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for the game are no longer on sale to away supporters.

WEATHER FORECAST

Sunny intervals, 7°C.

FIXTURE HISTORY

Albion's last win at White Hart Lane came just over 29 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 14 Premier League matches against Spurs, and none of the last seven.

LAST MEETING AT WHITE HART LANE

Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Albion
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 25th August 2012, 3.00pm

Tottenham Hotspur: Friedel; Walker, Vertonghen, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto; Sandro (Sigurdsson 73), Livermore; Lennon, van der Vaart (Adebayor 63), Bale; Defoe (Jenas 76). Subs not used: Cudicini (gk), Caulker, Naughton, Townsend.

Goalscorer:  Assou-Ekotto 74

Booked: Vertonghen 48 (foul)

Albion: Foster; Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Mulumbu, Yacob; Morrison; Fortune (Rosenberg 78), Long (Lukaku 63), Dorrans (Brunt 75). Subs not used: Myhill (gk), Jones, Gera, C Dawson.

Goalscorer: Morrison 90+1

Booked: Mulumbu 29 (kicking ball away), Reid 81 (foul)

Attendance: 36,166

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)

James Morrison scored an injury-time equaliser to earn West Brom a point and spoil Andre Villas-Boas' first home game in charge of Tottenham. Tottenham were guilty of wasting a number of chances in both halves, but the tension inside White Hart Lane lifted with 16 minutes left when Benoit Assou-Ekotto smashed home a deflected half-volley to put the home side ahead. West Brom, revitalised after the introduction of Romelu Lukaku as a second-half substitute, kept plugging away and the hosts' defence crumbled in the 91st minute when Morrison swept home to steal a point for the Baggies.

With all the uncertainty surrounding a number of his star players, and last week's defeat at Newcastle lingering in the back of his mind, Villas-Boas could have done with marking his White Hart Lane bow with a win, but it was not to be. The London side lacked the fluency displayed during the majority of last season under Harry Redknapp, although there were encouraging performances from Sandro, Gareth Bale and Jan Vertonghen, who thought he had marked his debut by scoring a 94th-minute winner only to see it ruled out for offside.

Villas-Boas and his trio of new signings received a huge round of applause before kick-off, and the Portuguese's charges looked determined to deliver for their new boss. Bale was the architect of an early onslaught. The winger, playing in a wider role than he did under Redknapp, cut in off the left flank and fired a shot just wide. The Welshman then found Sandro in the box but the Brazilian went down under pressure before he could get a shot off. Bale spun his marker in the corner and sent a low ball across the box but Liam Ridgewell prevented Aaron Lennon steering home from close range. Lennon did get on the end of a Bale cross soon after but the England winger miscued a volley. Rafael van der Vaart was the next Spurs player to go close, steering a curled shot just wide after Lennon cut the ball back to the Dutchman. Tottenham's dominance on the game started to wane, leaving Villas-Boas to cut the look a worried figure on the edge of his technical area. West Brom still lacked a cutting edge going forward, however, with Vertonghen snuffing out any threat from the visitors. The Belgian had a chance to mark his Spurs debut with a goal after playing a clever one-two with Bale but he rifled a volley well over. Steven Reid fashioned West Brom's only chance of the first half - a curling free-kick that easily cleared Brad Friedel's bar, and Ben Foster was called in to action for the first time in the 46th minute when he saved a weak shot from Defoe.

Tottenham continued to dominate in the second period but still could not find the net. Van der Vaart picked out Bale with a peach of a cross-field pass but the Welshman volleyed well over. Foster then pulled off a terrific diving save to deny Assou-Ekotto from a 20-yard free-kick. Defoe then spurned a great chance to put Spurs ahead when he latched on to Jake Livermore's pass but his effort went wide. Villas-Boas turned to Emmanuel Adebayor for inspiration, the Togo marksman coming on for Van der Vaart just after the hour. Villas-Boas thought the £5million striker had won him a penalty when he tussled with Gareth McAuley but Mike Dean waved play on. Spurs thought they had finally broken the deadlock after 64 minutes when Defoe smashed home an Assou-Ekotto cross, but the linesman ruled the England striker had strayed offside. Lukaku came on for West Brom and almost made an immediate impact, shrugging off Vertonghen before drawing a good save from Brad Friedel. Lukaku's presence was causing Spurs all kinds of problems, but the mood inside White Hart Lane lifted in the 74th minute when the hosts took the lead. Gylfi Sigurdsson's corner was cleared in to the path of Assou-Ekotto and he smashed home a half-volley courtesy of a big deflection off McAuley. Lukaku took advantage of some lackadaisical defending to gain some space just outside the Spurs box but Vertonghen came to the rescue with an outstanding sliding tackle. West Brom piled on the pressure through Fortune and Lukaku towards the death. McAuley came agonisingly close to scoring in the final minute when he sent over a looping header that was cleared off the line by Assou-Ekotto. Then 30 seconds in to injury time West Brom equalised when Morrison swept home from close range shortly after William Gallas had cleared off the line. Vertonghen thought he had won the game with almost the last kick when he volleyed home but his effort was disallowed.

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