Facts and figures on Saturday's clash at The Hawthorns (ko 3.07pm)
TOTTENHAM are this weekend's visitors to The Hawthorns, and ahead of the clash football stats website WhoScored.com have crunched the numbers.
Albion have taken a few giants steps towards safety of late, with last week's 1-0 win at Norwich the latest in a line of positive recent results.
It followed a draw against Cardiff that was so nearly a victory and another win came earlier in March at Swansea.
In fact, in terms of form over the last six games, the Baggies rank in the top half of the Barclays Premier League, having taken eight points.
That should give Pepe Mel's team confidence going into this Saturday's clash with Spurs (ko 3.07pm), against whom they picked up a 1-1 draw earlier in the season.
The side have started to find some rhythm and have rediscovered their creative and goalscoring touch, with chances and goals abundant in recent outings.
Tottenham come to The Hawthorns with their away form wobbling.
Only three away games ago, they had the best away record in the top flight this season, but they have lost each of their last three matches on the road without netting a single goal, following a 1-0 loss to Norwich with consecutive heavy 4-0 defeats at both Liverpool and Chelsea. Albion's win last week came against the Canaries while both of the latter two sides have come away from the Hawthorns with only a point during Mel's reign.
There is certainly reason for him to believe his team are capable of another positive result.
Mel has shown a fantastic capacity for effecting matches with his decisions on the touchline with comebacks a regular occurrence.
In fact, Albion's substitutes have scored more goals (11) than any other side in the Premier League this season.
That's 29.7% of the Baggies goals that have come from the bench, with Victor Anichebe (3), Saido Berahino (3), Matej Vydra (2) and Thievy (2) all among the top flight's leading substitute goalscorers.
Vydra led the line brilliantly from the off at Carrow Road last week and deserved a reward for his efforts.
The winner didn't come from the bench in the end, but the fact Anichebe and Thievy were left as unused subs only serves to highlight the strength in depth that Mel has at his disposal in attacking areas.
Given that Spurs have conceded more goals in the final 15 minutes of their Premier League matches this season (11) than they have in any other 15-min period, those appearing from the bench could once again make an impact.
*WhoScored.com is a unique website and one of the fastest growing in the sports industry, specialising in the in-depth analysis of detailed football data. Provided with unique stats, they compile and create comprehensive analysis on the major European divisions, including live match stats and player ratings. Follow @WhoScored and their editor-in-chief @alitweedale on Twitter.
All-time results record (League, FA Cup and League Cup)
Interesting facts
PLD | W | D | L | F | A | GD | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
HOME | 68 | 37 | 12 | 19 | 133 | 85 | +48 |
AWAY | 68 | 15
| 19 | 34 | 68 | 117 | -49 |
NEUTRAL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -4 |
TOTAL | 137 | 52 | 31 | 54 | 201 | 206 | -5 |
Interesting facts
Albion have drawn five of their previous six matches at The Hawthorns.
Tottenham have not drawn any of their last nine Barclays Premier League fixtures stretching back to the start of February, winning five and losing four.
The Baggies and Spurs both currently find themselves among the top-ten form teams in the Premier League having taken eight and nine points respectively from their last six games.
Spurs have lost their last three league fixtures away from home, conceding nine goals in the process and failing to score.
Albion are winless in the last eight meetings between the two sides, with their last success coming at The Hawthorns in December 2008.
Last time out
HOME: Barclays Premier League, Sunday, February 3, 2013, Albion 0 (Popov s/o 47) Tottenham 1 (Bale 67)
AWAY: Barclays Premier League, Thursday, December 26, 2013, Tottenham 1 (Eriksen 36) Albion 1 (Olsson 38)
Form guide (last six league matches)
ALBION: DLWLDW
TOTTENHAM: WLLWLW
Last league match line-ups
ALBION (v Norwich – away W 1-0): Foster, McAuley, Reid, Olsson, Ridgewell, Morrison, Dorrans (Gera 77 (O'Neil 83)), Mulumbu, Amalfitano, Sessegnon, Vydra (Berahino 71). Subs not used: Myhill (gk), Dawson, Anichebe, Thievy
TOTTENHAM (v Sunderland – home W 5-1): Lloris, Chiriches, Kaboul, Rose, Naughton, Eriksen, Paulinho (Veljkovic 88), Lennon (Townsend 84), Chadli (Sigurdsson 82), Kane, Adebayor. Subs not used: Friedel (gk), Fryers, Sandro, Bentaleb
Tottenham team news
Spurs are expected to select from the same squad which downed Sunderland on Monday.
Ref watch
Neil Swarbrick will referee Saturday's game. The Lancashire official last oversaw the Baggies in their 2-0 win at home to Crystal Palace at the start of November. He has dished out 57 yellow cards but not a single red in 17 games this term.
Betting
Selected odds from Sky Bet:
Albion to win: 2/1
Tottenham to win: 13/10
Draw: 12/5
Morgan Amalfitano to score first: 18/1
Christian Eriksen to score first: 8/1
If you fancy a flutter with the club's official online betting partner, click here.
Tickets
Tickets for the encounter are on general sale. The Smethwick End has sold out but seats remain available to home supporters only in all other stands. Seats for this category A fixture are priced £39 adults, £29 seniors, £25 under-21s/students and £15 under-17s. They are available online (click here), in person from the East Stand ticket office and by phone (0121 227 2227).
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