Tottenham Hotspur FC
West Bromwich Albion FC
West Bromwich Albion FC
Tottenham face a fight to save their season against relegation strugglers West Brom
Tottenham to win 2-0
Having suffered three consecutive league defeats for the first time since 2012, Spurs will be desperate to bounce back with a win here.
Mourinho’s team were poor once again in their defeat to Chelsea in midweek, playing so timidly in the first half that you could forget that they topped the table for four weeks earlier in the season.
Without Harry Kane, who appears to be recovering quickly but not quite ready for this match, Spurs have been a shadow of themselves when he is in the side. Not only have the goals dried up, but they’re all round play is completely linked to the form and fitness of their star striker.
Hope is running out completely from a West Brom point of view, who appear completely unable to gather enough points to clinch survival this season.
Having lost to Sheffield United, the only team below them in the league, the gap to safety has now opened up to 10 points.
Form Guide (all comps): WWLLL
Reasons to be cheerful:
Can complete the double over West Brom with a win
Have lost just once to The Baggies in 14 meetings
Reasons to be fearful:
Mourinho lost back-to-back home games for the first time as a Premier League manager
Have lost four of five previous games without Harry Kane
Unfortunately for Tottenham fans, we’ve all seen this before from Jose Mourinho.
A strong start, some good performances, but then the negative comments in the press, the style of play becomes more defensive and the results drop off. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy would have seen this close hand at both Chelsea and Manchester United in recent years.
The hope is that Spurs can still clinch a trophy this year, but it’s looking more unlikely to be the Premier League, now sitting seven points adrift of a top four finish and 14 behind leaders Manchester City.
They play so poorly without the injured Harry Kane and yet they must do without him still against West Brom, a side with a poor record against Spurs but one fighting for their lives down at the bottom.
This is a must win for Spurs.
Star Man – Son Heung-Min
Has 16 goal involvements (nine goals, seven assists) against promoted sides.
Form Guide (all comps): WLLDL
Reasons to be cheerful:
This is arguably the best time to play Spurs
Will look back at their win over Wolves as encouragement
Reasons to be fearful:
Have conceded 52 goals already, 14 more than anyone else
Sam Allardyce has never beaten Jose Mourinho from 12 attempts
Just as Tottenham appear to be losing their battle to be one of the top sides in the country, West Brom may well be losing theirs to stay in the division for next season.
In their nine league games since Slaven Bilic was sacked and Sam Allardyce appointed, they’ve lost six of those with just a single victory coming against Wolves in that time.
On a more positive note, two new loan signings, Maitland-Niles from Arsenal and Yokuslu could both be involved in what could boost team spirit. Often a couple of new arrivals can make the existing players work that little bit harder to avoid being replaced.
Having said that, even against a weakened and dispirited Spurs side, this will be a tough match for the Baggies.
Star Man – Matt Phillips
His goal gave West Brom the lead over Sheffield United, only for his team to lose the match. He’ll be one of the more important players in the run in.
Spurs should look to boss the game
If they start strongly they should win
The Baggies must be adventurous themselves
A point wouldn’t do either side many favours here, however with both teams lacking confidence, we could see a tight match to start with.
Spurs should look to impose themselves on the game, and even without the injured Harry Kane, should have too much for West Brom this weekend.
Tottenham to win 2-0
