Jamie’s Stat Preview: West Brom v Tottenham

Aaron Lennon

Tottenham travel to West Bromwich Albion in their bid to win their fifth successive Premier League match.

Despite the fact that Spurs have played every Premier League season since its 1992/93 inception and West Brom have been the very definition of a yoyo club, having not spent more than two consecutive seasons in either of the top leagues since 2001/02, the teams are surprisingly evenly matched.

The pair have shared four draws, two at either home, Tottenham have won four matches, and West Brom have won two games, both at The Hawthorns.

In terms of goalscoring, they are also very similar. Tottenham slightly have the edge, having scored 14 goals to West Brom’s 13. Both have scored five goals away from home, meaning Tottenham also edge the home-scoring stakes by nine goals to eight.

Which team dominates either half? Apologies for fence sitting on that score too. Both teams have buried seven first half goals and both teams have scored four of them at home and three away. The Lilywhites edge the Baggies again in the second half by seven goals to six, with the pair scoring two goals each away from home in the second half and Spurs narrowly in the lead at home by five goals to four.

So how can we separate this pair? Well, it seems like it’s all down to one man. Unfortunately, he has recently been transferred to LA Galaxy. Robbie Keane has scored six goals in meetings between Spurs and the Baggies, three time more than any other player. Of the players still involved, Jermaine Defoe is the next highest goalscorer with two, the same as West Brom’s highest ever goalscorers against Spurs- Zoltan Gera and Nwankwo Kanu. So far, there has never been an own goal in meetings between these two so there is ample opportunity for someone to become a villain.

It took eight attempts for West Brom to secure a win against Tottenham, following a Spurs double in the Baggies’ debut Premier League season, a brace of draws in their next and a Spurs home win.

In fact, West Brom may prefer not to take all three points at the Hawthorns. The Baggies have ended both seasons in which they have beaten Tottenham in the relegation zone. Both these occasions were the only two times Tottenham failed to put at least one goal past their opponents.

Finally, the game will only be Spurs’ third 3pm Saturday game of the season so far and their first since 24th September. However, in their previous two 3pm Saturday games, they’ve run out winners against teams beginning with the letter W, so the omens look good.

By Jamie Frier

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