Spurs v WBA Preview

Spurs v WBA Preview

Date: Sunday 21st September 2014
Venue: White Hart Lane, London
Kick-off: 13:30 GMT

Spurs v WBA Preview


We have gone 2 games without a win and this is a game where we need to make superiority count, although we don't always find WBA easy opponents. Their defence may well be boosted by former England international and Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott, which you would think would make them tighter at the back.

If past results are anything to go by it then a draw or a one goal victory is on the cards, obviously hoping it's the latter.

TEAM NEWS


  • Andros Townsend suffered a dead leg in the Europa League 0-0 draw with Partizan Belgrade.
  • Spurs made 10 changes for that tie so the Premier League side will return.
  • West Brom boss Alan Irvine has a fully fit squad, with Joleon Lescott and Silvestre Varela available for their debuts.
  • Youssouf Mulumbu has recovered from his hamstring injury
  • Victor Anichebe has recovered from his hernia injury.

Current Form 

Green = Win, Pink = Loss, Yellow = Draw

Tottenham

(6th)
Sun. 21 Sep 2014
KO: 13.30

West Bromwich

(19th)
Last 8 matches

13 SepSunderland - SPURS2-20-2WBA - Everton13 Sep
31 AugSPURS - Liverpool0-33-0Swansea City - WBA30 Aug
24 AugSPURS - QPR4-00-0Southampton - WBA23 Aug
16 AugWest Ham Utd - SPURS0-12-2WBA - Sunderland16 Aug

Premier League Table - Home Form v Away Form

Home Table Away Table

The form table and the league table are one and the same at this time of the season with only 4 games gone, Tottenham sit 6th, WBA 19th. They have a manager inexperienced in the Premier League so this is a fixture we need to be taking advantage of, something we couldn't do last season, both games finished as draws.

Form Table (last 4)

PPts
1Chelsea412
2Aston Villa410
3Swansea City49
4Southampton47
5Manchester C.47
6Tottenham47
7Arsenal46
8Liverpool46
9Manchester U.45
10Hull City45
11Everton45
12Leicester City45
13West Ham Utd44
14Stoke City44
15Sunderland43
16QPR43
17Crystal Palace42
18Burnley42
19West Bromwich42
20Newcastle Utd42

There is not usually a great number of goals in this tie, we often struggle against WBA and haven't beaten them at home since January 2012.

PREVIOUS PREMIER LEAGUE ENCOUNTERS

12 Apr 14WBA - Tottenham3-3
26 Dec 13Tottenham - WBA1-1
3 Feb 13WBA - Tottenham0-1
25 Aug 12Tottenham - WBA1-1
3 Jan 12Tottenham - WBA1-0
26 Nov 11WBA - Tottenham1-3
23 Apr 11Tottenham - WBA2-2
11 Sep 10WBA - Tottenham1-1
2 May 09Tottenham - WBA1-0
28 Dec 08WBA - Tottenham2-0
27 Mar 06Tottenham - WBA2-1
28 Dec 05WBA - Tottenham2-0
20 Apr 05Tottenham - WBA1-1
25 Aug 04WBA - Tottenham1-1
21 Apr 03WBA - Tottenham2-3
8 Dec 02Tottenham - WBA3-1

Stretching back to 2002/03 season the record stands at played 16 W 7 D7 L2 F24 A19
A total of 28 points secured out of a possible 48.

At home the record is P8 W4 D4 L0 F12 A7
A total of 16 points out of a possible 24.

We haven't scored more than 1 goal against WBA at White Hart Lane since April 2011 and then we conceded as many as we scored. We have to go right back to Dec 2002 for the last time we scored 3 goals against them in this fixture.

Our attacking form this time around has us sitting 7th in the scoring table.

Attacking Table

PG
1Chelsea415
2Everton49
3Southampton48
4Swansea City48
5Arsenal47
6Manchester C.47
7Tottenham47
8Liverpool46
9Manchester U.46
10West Ham Utd46
11Crystal Palace45
12Hull City45
13Sunderland45
14Aston Villa44
15Leicester City44
16Newcastle Utd43
17Stoke City42
18West Bromwich42
19Burnley41
20QPR41

In the defence table we also sit 7th thanks to the Liverpool game otherwise it would be second. WBA we see are having trouble scoring goals and are conceding. Given the history of this fixture and current form, you'd expect Spurs to score 1 or 2 goals and WBA to score 1, they have only failed to do so once in the last 8 games at WHL.

Defence Table

PG
1Aston Villa41
2Stoke City43
3Southampton43
4Manchester U.43
5Manchester C.44
6Burnley44
7Tottenham45
8Swansea City45
9Liverpool45
10Leicester City45
11Hull City45
12Sunderland46
13Chelsea46
14Arsenal46
15West Ham Utd47
16West Bromwich47
17Crystal Palace48
18QPR49
19Newcastle Utd49
20Everton410

Tottenham have spent 39 minutes per game winning so far this season at home and 41 minutes losing while WBA have not been in front away from home all season and have spent 44 minutes per game losing.

Tottenham have been leading 50% of home games at half-time, WBA leading none away so it may well be that Spurs are in front at half-time yet WBA manage a goal in the second half.

This season 75% of the time we have scored the first goal in a game and WBA have conceded the first goal 75% of the time. At home the figure is 50% and for WBA away it's 50%. WBA have not managed to score the first goal in a game at all this season.

It has taken us an average of 36 minutes to score a goal at home and WBA 32 minutes to concede a goal away, which again suggest being 1-0 up at half-time.

THBN Verdict

To win the game we may well have to score twice and after the Sunderland game we need to return to the sort of clinical finishing we saw against a terrible QPR, who have since also conceded 4 away to Manchester United. A goal in the first half and a half-time lead looks on the cards but it's possible it may be a wait for a second. To win the statistics perhaps suggest we may need to score in both halves.

Both Emmanuel Adebayor and Mauricio Pochettino felt we should have been more clinical at Sunderland, both revealing their disappointment to the press. We can't win every game 4-0 and this is a potential banana skin for us where being clinical may well be important to secure the three points.