For the second week in a row Tottenham play in the Monday Night Football having watched their title rivals Leicester play on the Sunday afternoon. Unlike last week Leicester took full advantage on Sunday so Spurs know they simply have to beat West Brom at the Lane to keep their title hopes realistic.
Tottenham
I must admit I’ve been doubting whether Tottenham could handle the pressure of the title race and I’ve been cautious with them accordingly in recent weeks but those doubts disappeared with the way they demolished Stoke last week.
That was their fourth win in their last five matches and 10th in 13 so Spurs are in really good form but they’ll need to be in good form here if they are to reduce the gap between themselves and Leicester and move it back to five points. If they lose here they will be eight points behind with nine to play for and realistically that would be game over.
West Brom
West Brom go into this match winless in their last five and with just one win in their last seven matches and that pretty much shows up where they are this season. They’ve been safe for a while which is always their primary target and they’ve never really had the chance to achieve much else.
The Baggies only played as recently as Thursday night when they lost pretty tamely to Arsenal 2-0 so this has been a bit of a hectic period for Tony Pulis’ men which doesn’t help their cause going into this one but Spurs will know West Brom took a point off Leicester recently and can’t be underestimated.
Team news
It would be a big surprise if Mauricio Pochettino makes any changes to the side that blew Stoke away last week. Any changes he does decide to make won’t involve Nabil Bentaleb as the midfielder is out with an injury.
Pulis is likely to freshen his side up for their second match in five days. Salomon Rondon and Jonas Olsson are waiting in the wings to come into the side. Alex Pritchard is recovering from an injury but he is ineligible to play anyway.
Betting
Based on what we’ve seen in the last week we have to work on the theory that Tottenham are going to win this game. How many they win it by remains to be seen and is probably the real question. Tony Pulis sides are always organised and hard to beat but really they offered very little against Arsenal so I just wonder if this Spurs side could tear them apart. It is rare WBA get battered though.
That puts me off taking any handicaps really but I am confident Spurs will win and just like last week I think there is value in them winning without conceding. The price isn’t as good as last week but WBA carry nothing like the goal threat that Stoke did and Spurs are at home this week.
Each of Tottenham’s last four wins have come without conceding while six of West Brom’s last seven defeats have seen them fail to score. WBA have only scored one goal in their last five matches so they aren’t free scoring. Spurs are tight at the back so the 4/5 on Spurs winning and doing so to nil looks massively overpriced even allowing for the quirkiness of the outcome.
Tips
Back Tottenham to win to nil for a 5/10 stake at 1.80 with Paddy Power
Back them here – BONUS – Spurs are being PRICE BOOSTED TO 4/1 FOR NEW CUSTOMERS:
