West Bromwich Albion v Tottenham Hotspur
Football : English Premier League
Saturday 11 September 2010 - Kickoff 3pm

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West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion made a recovery from their opening day traumatic experience at the hands of Chelsea and the side can only be better as they have already recorded their first League win of the season. It is clear that their home form will be what determines if they extend their stay in the top flight this season and they will be looking to make the Hawthorns a tougher place to visit than it was during their last stay in the Premier League.

The Baggies lost 6-0 on the opening day at Stamford Bridge and looked well short of being a top flight team, but Roberto Di Matteo managed to pick his troops up and record their first 3 points from a home win over Sunderland. This game against Spurs will provide a real test as to how much can be expected of WBA at home this season.

Marek Cech is a doubt for this game but Joe Mattock is out through injury and James Morrison is suspended after being sent off at Anfield in their last League fixture.

Possible West Bromich Albion Line Up: Carson, Jara, Shorey, Tamas, Olsson, Malumbu, Scharner, Dorrans, Brunt, Odemwingie and Bednar (4-4-2)

Tottenham Hotspur

The euphoria that engulfed White Hart Lane after their win over Young Boys to qualify for the Champions League was quickly extinguished by Wigan Athletic just 3 days later as the Latics won 0-1 at Spurs. With the added threat of Manchester City this season, those are the kinds of games that could cost Tottenham come May and they will be expected to bounce back in a positive manner here.

Spurs picked up 4 points from their 3 Premier League games before the international break, but it is the disappointing defeat to Wigan that sticks out like a sore thumb. They will be hoping the 1-2 win at Stoke City is an indication of how their season will go away from home this year and not prove to be the exceptional result of the season.

While the country celebrated England's impressive start to the qualifying campaign for Euro 2012, Harry Redknapp must have been cursing his luck as both Michael Dawson and Jermain Defoe suffered injuries that will likely keep them out for the next 2 months. Heurelho Gomes should return to the side, as well as Luka Modric. The big question will be if former Arsenal captain, William Gallas, and new signing Rafael Van der Vaart will be given their debuts here.

Possible Tottenham Hotspur Line Up: Gomes, Corluka, Assou-Ekotto, King, Gallas, Palacious, Huddlestone, Lennon, Modric, Crouch and Pavlyuchenko (4-4-2)

Head to Head

West Brom provided a thorn in the side of Tottenham in recent meetings and are unbeaten in their last 3 Premier League meetings against them at the Hawthornes. In fact, West Brom won their last 2 at home against Spurs.

Prediction

West Bromwich Albion will know the support of their home crowd is going to be key to their hopes of survival this season. The team plays good football, but that makes it harder for them to pick up the results away from home against better sides. The season rests on making sure the side picks up plenty of points from games at the Hawthornes this season.

Tottenham Hotspur were stunned last time out so we can expect to see a reaction here... Or can we? There is a big Champions League game on the horizon with the trip to Werder Bremen on Tuesday night, and the losses of Dawson and Defoe cannot be underplayed in any manner. This was always going to be the test for Spurs, to see how they can cope with big games coming thick and fast and it will be interesting to see how Harry Redknapp sets his side out here.

I am currently finding it hard to separate the sides when taking on board all of the considerations. I just have a feeling that the price on West Bromwich Albion to avoid defeat is too tempting to ignore and will play them that way on the Asian Handicap.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur

HANDICAP BETTING :

West Bromwich Albion + 0.5 Asian Handicap