A 1-1 result was not what Mauricio Pochettino had in mind when his side began the match against a lowly West Bromwich Albion who came into the match without a manager in charge. Pochettino’s men were made to toil hard to get the goal and had to chase the game for the most parts, having fallen behind to a Salomon Rondon goal in the fourth minute.
West Bromwich Albion left the Wembley stadium as the happier of the two teams after playing out a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur. They have former Newcastle midfielder Gary Megson on temporary charge after Tony Pulis was sacked last week when his team lost 4-0 to Chelsea last time out on their home turf.
They will be facing a Newcastle United side, low on confidence in the mid-week. The Magpies have now lost four matches on the trot including a 4-1 hammering at the hands of Manchester United. They will be looking to bounce back to winning ways and taking on West Bromwich Albion in the midweek clash might provide them with an early opportunity to wash away the memories of those defeats.
West Bromwich Albion themselves are struggling way more and are sitting in the 17th place in the league table. They are just one point and one place above the safety zone and have just collected two wins from a possible 13 in the league so far.
With the strikers in both teams struggling to convert opportunities, it will be an even contest and possibly a low scoring encounter. Here is how West Bromwich Albion will look to line up for their midweek match against Newcastle United.
They are likely to stick to their formation of 4-4-2 which earned them a vital point at the weekend against Tottenham Hotspur.
Defence
34-year-old Ben Foster is expected to turn up in goal for West Bromwich Albion.
The Baggies defence which was excellent over the weekend in shutting out Tottenham for most of the match will be expected to turn up again and repeat their performance. Allan-Romeo Nyom is expected to play in right back. Ex-Arsenal player Kieran Gibbs will be covering the left back position.
In the heart of their defence, it is likely to be Ahmed Hegazi once again lining up next to their captain Jonny Evans.
Midfield
An unchanged midfield quartet with Gareth Barry and Jay Livermore in the centre and Sam Field and Matt Phillips on the wings is once again expected to turn up for West Bromwich Albion.
Attack
The striking combination is likely to be Jay Rodriguez playing off Salomon Rondon. Here is how they might line up:
