Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Tottenham’s incredible win over Manchester City seems such a long time ago now what with the international break splitting up proceedings but I think it’s fair to say we can all now breathe a huge sigh of relief as that is now well behind us and Premier League action is just around the corner
That win saw Spurs close the gap to just one point as they handed out Pep Guardiola’s first defeat in English league Football and it showed that City aren’t invincible after all. But enough about City let’s focus on Mauricio Pochettino’s side who without getting ahead of ourselves could be top of the table by the end of the evening if results go their way
The reason they shouldn’t get ahead of themselves is because Tony Pulis has an incredible habit of putting a spanner in the works, it was his side that all but ended Spurs title hopes last season with a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane and it was the same score when these two sides met at The Hawthorns earlier on the campaign
And Spurs will travel to the Midlands to face a West Brom who are unbeaten in their last three and currently sit 9th in the table, that run of results has somewhat lessened the pressure on Pulis and he will obviously be delighted that he didn’t win the sack race after Francesco Guidolin’s departure from Swansea.
For Spurs the most difficult thing will be having to pick up from where they left off previous, it’s almost as if the international break came at the worst possible time as after such a great win against Manchester City you would want that momentum to continue
Add into the mix the fact that members of their squad will have been jetting in from all over the world after World Cup Qualifying action and you have to then wonder if that is going to have an adverse effect on the team. Thankfully for Mauricio Pochettino the first 7 games of the season have showed that their is strength in depth in this squad
No matter how the big the squad is the game has come around too quickly for Harry Kane who is once again sidelined with an ankle injury, the dilemma for Pochettino now is whether or not to start with the in form Hueng-min Son who has been representing South Korea over the past couple of weeks or go with summer signing Vincent Janssen
The hot streak of form of Son has certainly meant that Nacer Chadli hasn’t been missed but Tottenham’s loss is certainly West Brom’s gain as the Belgian international has not been goal shy since his move to the West Midlands and you could almost put the mortgage on him scoring against his former club this afternoon
The last time these two sides met there was the flash point between Dele Alli and Claudio Yacob although not spotting by the officials at the time, Alli’s uppercut into Yacob’s midrift earned him a three match ban and one that meant he was sorely missed as the wheels fell of off Tottenham’s title chasing wagon.
Expect that to be an interesting clash again should the two players face off again, one man who also has been out through suspension as of late is Mousa Dembele and it’s touch and go as to whether he will feature after picking up a knock in training
As for the result, if these two sides were to have met straight after the victory over Manchester City then I would say Tottenham would win without a doubt but the pause of momentum might just play into the hands of West Brom. I have a sneaky feeling this one may be a draw which would be a better point for the home side then it would away. A frustrating share of the points for me.
