Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs will travel to the Hawthorns on Saturday to take on Tony Pulis’ West Bromwich Albion, looking for their first victory over the Magpies in their last four attempts. West Brom have always been a tricky side to beat at home and Spurs have a poor record away from home against the Magpies. At Hawthorns, West Brom have beaten Spurs 34 time while Spurs have won just 17 times. Both games ended in 1-1 stalemates last season when the two sides faced each other.
West Brom have won just one of their last six games in all competitions which was a 4-2 win against West Ham United. The win eased a bit of pressure of Pulis’ shoulders who was criticised for the team’s lacklustre style of hoof-ball.
The Baggies are sitting ninth on the table with nine points from seven games but managed to win just two in the process. On the other hand, Spurs are on a roll at the moment. Unbeaten this season, the Lilywhites are on the back of an impressive 2-0 win over mighty Manchester City and are sitting just one place and one point beneath the Sky Blues on the table.
West Brom do have a tendency of shocking the bigger sides and will be keen to come up with an upset against Spurs. Here is the predicted West Brom lineup against Spurs.
Defence
Ben Foster will definitely start under the bar ahead of Boaz Myhill. Craig Dawson will keep his place in the right-back position. West Brom are likely to stick with the centre-back pairing of Gareth McAuley and Jonny Evans.
Everton loanee Brendan Galloway is likely to replace Allan Nyom in the left-back position. The trademark of a Tony Pulis’ side is a rock-solid defence but we are yet to see that kind of defensive stability from West Brom this season. However, they need to be at their best to stop the in-form Spurs.
Midfield
Argentine defensive midfield Claudio Yacob will continue to ply his trade as the defensive midfielder. The 29-year-old is a key player at the Hawthorns thanks to his excellent defensive abilities. Pulis’ 4-1-4-1 asks a lot of hard work from the midfield enforcer and he hardly lets his boss down.
Skipper Darren Fletcher and Nacer Chadli will line up as the two box to box midfielders. Chadli will be keen to keep up his good run of form and hurt his former employers. James McClean and Matt Phillips are likely to line up as the two wide players.
Attack
Jose Salomon Rondon will definitely keep his place up front. The Venezuela international has been impressive so far this campaign and he will be keen to keep up his good run of form.
