WEST BROMWICH ALBION v TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 12th April 2014, 3:07pm
The Hawthorns

MATCH NOTES

All games throughout the country will kick-off at 3:07pm as a mark of respect to the 96 fans that lost their lives at Hillsborough 25 years ago this month.

The game will be the 138th 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's last game on this date took place in 2008 when the Baggies and Watford played out a 1-1 draw at The Hawthorns. The club's last win on April 12 came in 1987 when a Ron Saunders-led Albion beat Birmingham City 1-0 at St Andrews.

Spurs' last game on this date also came in 2008 when they played out a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough at White Hart Lane. They have failed to win any of the last eight games they have played on April 12.

If selected, Jonas Olsson will make his 200th start for the Baggies.

The Londoners are unbeaten in eight Premier League meetings with Albion, winning four and drawing four.

Albion's last six games: Norwich City (A) 1-0; Cardiff City (H) 3-3; Hull City (A) 0-2; Swansea City (A) 2-1; Manchester United (H) 0-3; Fulham (H) 1-1.

Spurs' last six games: Sunderland (H) 5-1; Liverpool (A) 0-4; Southampton (H) 3-2; Benfica (A, EL) 2-2; Arsenal (H) 0-1; Benfica (H, EL) 1-3.

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Baggies' midfielder James Morrison faces a late fitness test on the ankle injury he suffered at Norwich last weekend. If the Scottish international fails to recover in time the fit-again Chris Brunt will take his place in the starting line-up.

Billy Jones and Claudio Yacob also return to the squad after injury but Zoltan Gera (hamstring) is out.

Squad: Foster, Myhill, Reid, Ridgewell, McAuley, Dawson, Olsson, Morrison, Sinclair, Brunt, Dorrans, Mulumbu, Sessegnon, Anichebe, Vydra, Berahino, Bifouma, O'Neil, D Daniels, Amalfitano, Lugano, Jones, Yacob.

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs look like being without six first team regulars for the trip to The Hawthorns.

Mousa Dembele (hip), Etienne Capoue (foot), Kyle Walker (pelvis), Erik Lamela (back) and Jan Vertonghen (ankle) are all out whilst Roberto Soldado has returned to training but is unlikely to figure.

Squad: Lloris, Friedel, Archer, Naughton, Kaboul, Chiriches, Dawson, Fryers, Rose, Sandro, Chadli, Veljkovic, Eriksen, Sigurdsson, Paulinho, Bentaleb, Lennon, Townsend, Kane, Adebayor.

QUOTES

Albion boss Pepe Mel:

“If we could win we would be very close to Premier League safety, which is why this game is highly important.

“It’s normal that when a coach comes in midway through the season then a team has problems. No team changes its coach halfway through a season if it’s winning everything. We've resolved the issues and I think the end to our season will be a good one. Each week we've had a different problem but these problems have been resolved. We will have a successful end.

“All I want is for West Bromwich Albion to be in the Premier League next season. The players know now that the only route is to be united. The problems have made us more united. I think that against Cardiff we played extremely well.  I think we showed then the team was able to do things well.  Things were very difficult back in January but I think the team is now believing in itself.

“Confidence is high and we’re also getting important players back like Chris Brunt, Billy Jones and Claudio Yacob. It is very important we’re all together and we’re strong together. Spurs are a team we cannot allow to play. They are a team with some very big players and a team that is fighting for a place in Europe. In the last four games we have achieved seven points, including two victories, and the team is doing much better.”

www.wba.co.uk

MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 19/10, Tottenham Win: 11/8, Draw: 23/10.

First Goalscorer

Albion: Anichebe 15/2, Vydra 8/1, Thievy 9/1, Sessegnon 9/1, Berahino 10/1, Dorrans 14/1, Sinclair 16/1, Brunt 16/1, Morrison 16/1, Amalfitano 20/1, Dawson 25/1, Mulumbu 25/1, McAuley 25/1, Yacob 33/1, Jones 33/1, Lugano 33/1.

Tottenham Hotspur: Adebayor 5/1, Soldado 13/2, Chadli 7/1, Kane 15/2, Eriksen 8/1, Townsend 9/1, Sigurdsson 10/1, Lamela 11/1, Paulinho 11/1, Lennon 14/1, Dembele 16/1, Bentaleb 20/1, Sandro 20/1, Vertonghen 25/1, Kaboul 25/1, Capoue 25/1, Walker 33/1, Dawson 33/1, Chiriches 33/1, Rose 33/1.

www.williamhill.com

REFEREE

Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)

Swarbrick has refereed one Albion game so far this season - the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at The Hawthorns in November.

The Lancashire official has taken charge of three Spurs' games during 2013/14 - the 4-0 win at Newcastle United in February, the 2-1 defeat at home to West Ham United in the Capital Cup in December and the 1-0 win over Swansea City at White Hart Lane in August.

The official has issued 96 yellow cards and one red card in the 29 games he has officiated this season.

Albion have a good record in games Swarbrick has refereed, winning eight out of ten.

A full run-down of Swarbrick's history refereeing the Baggies can be found here

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets are on general sale to home supporters with availability in all stands except the Smethwick End.

WEATHER FORECAST

Light cloud, 11°C.

FIXTURE HISTORY

Albion's last win at White Hart Lane came almost 30 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 15 Premier League matches against Spurs, and none of the last eight.

LAST MEETING AT THE HAWTHORNS

Albion 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Barclays Premier League
Sunday 3rd February 2013, 1.30pm

Albion: Foster; Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Popov; Dorrans (Rosenberg 81), Yacob (Fortune 81), Morrison, Brunt (c); Long, Lukaku (Ridgewell 52). Subs not used: Myhill (gk), Thomas, Jones, Tamas.

Booked: Dorrans 68 (foul)

Sent-Off: Popov 48 (spitting)

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris; Walker (Gallas 78), Dawson (c), Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon (Sigurdsson 86), Dembele, Parker Bale; Dempsey, Defoe (Holtby 39). Subs not used: Friedel (gk), Naughton, Huddlestone, Livermore.  

Goalscorer:  Bale 67

Attendance: 24,978

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (County Durham)

Gareth Bale's superb strike earned Tottenham victory over 10-man West Brom at the Hawthorns - and closed the gap to third-placed Chelsea to one point in the Barclays Premier League. The Wales international struck his 11th league goal of the campaign mid-way through the second half to end a run of three successive draws for Andre Villas-Boas' team.

Albion played the final 42 minutes with 10 men after defender Goran Popov was sent off for spitting in the direction of Spurs defender Kyle Walker. Tottenham took full advantage of their numerical advantage to dominate the second period despite the loss of leading scorer Jermain Defoe with an ankle injury. Bale was a constant threat with his pace and power as he followed up his mid-week equaliser at Norwich with another crucial goal. Popov's red card was the last thing Albion would have unwanted after all the controversy surrounding striker Peter Odemwingie's aborted move to QPR. Odemwingie was not part of Albion's matchday squad but it did not stop the Tottenham fans chanting a series of taunts aimed at the Nigeria international. But of more concern to head coach Steve Clarke will be the fact they have now won only two of their last 14 games in all competitions.

The first half chance fell to Albion after Lukaku's flick header found the recalled Shane Long in space and with only Hugo Lloris to beat. But his first touch was heavy and forced him out wide and he eventually overran the ball which went harmlessly out of play. Lukaku was causing plenty of problems and the on-loan Chelsea striker forced a low save out of Lloris after good play by Baggies skipper Chris Brunt. West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster came quickly off his line to hack the ball away from Jermain Defoe after he had anticipated a through pass from Gareth Bale. Lloris pulled off a fine save to prevent the home side going ahead after 20 minutes. Graham Dorrans threaded a pass through the Tottenham rearguard to Long who took the ball in his stride and raced into the box. But Lloris was equal to the situation and blocked the resulting shot from the Republic of Ireland international. Bale was posing the biggest threat to Albion and one 60-yard run ended with a menacing centre which flew across the face of goal. Defoe, in front of England head coach Roy Hodgson, needed touchline treatment after landing awkwardly on his left ankle when avoiding a challenge from Long. But he was unable to continue and was helped down the tunnel by two Spurs physios and replaced by transfer window signing Lewis Holtby. Lukaku shot over from a narrow angle and in first-half injury time Foster tipped a dipping effort from Bale over the bar.

Albion were reduced to 10 men after only three minutes of the second half. Replays showed that Popov spat in the direction of Spurs defender Kyle Walker after the two had squared up to each other. Referee Marc Clattenburg instantly brandished a red card at the on-loan Dynamo Kiev left-back. Albion responded by bringing on a natural replacement for Popov in Liam Ridgewell but they were forced to sacrifice Lukaku upfront. It was now one-way traffic towards the Albion goal and Foster turned aside a low drive from Holtby. The former England international was also alert in blocking a close-range attempt from Bale. But after 68 minutes a stunning strike from Bale put Tottenham in front. The winger, playing in a more central role, received a pass from Walker, brushed off the challenge of Brunt and his 20 yard shot flew past the despairing dive of Foster into the top corner of the net. Baggies defender Jonas Olsson then appeared to make a one-fingered gesture towards a section of Albion fans who had jeered a mistake by the Sweden international. Foster did well to block Clint Dempsey's shot as Spurs searched for the second goal.

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