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Staff
- May 20, 2005
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West Brom v Tottenham Hotspur
Venue: The Hawthorns Date: Saturday, 11 September Kick-off: 1500 BST
Coverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live, local radio, Final Score & highlights on Match of the Day
For more on live coverage please visit Geez's Live Media Thread
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2[ar]
Spurs rocked by Defoe blow
Tottenham travel to West Brom at the weekend looking to kick-start their season with a convincing victory.
Spurs fans could be forgiven for having their minds elsewhere, with their long-awaited baptism in the UEFA Champions League ahead of them on Tuesday.
But Harry Redknapp will want to come away from the Hawthorns as victors after taking four points from their first three matches.
Pressure is on the Londoners to kick-on this season and reassert their position in the top four and a win would breed confidence in the Spurs ranks prior to their date with Werder Bremen in midweek.
West Brom, on the other hand, will see the visit of the White Hart Lane club as a chance to record a scalp and three vital home points.
The Baggies entered the international weekend on the back of a narrow away defeat at Liverpool and a home test gives them chance to turn the Hawthorns into a fortress, as well as a return to winning ways.
Home form to a side looking to avoid the drop is vital and Di Matteo will hope for a repeat of his team's 1-0 success over Sunderland, which gave them their first points of the campaign.
Spurs will resemble a tough challenge for Albion but the Midlands outfit will hope their opponents' European exploits mean they are vulnerable to an upset.
West Brom news
Graham Dorrans resembles the biggest headache to boss Di Matteo ahead of the clash, with the Scotland midfielder a doubt due to personal reasons.
Dorrans withdrew from the squad to face Liechtenstein on Tuesday and his manager is unclear whether the player will be able to feature but Paul Scharner could debut and take his place.
James Morrison is banned for three matches, but Gabriel Thomas, Roman Bednar and Peter Odemwingie have come back from international duty fit and in contention.
Jerome Thomas (ankle) should feature, meanwhile long-term injury victims Joe Mattock, Ishmael Miller and Marek Cech are reportedly making strong progress.
Tottenham news
Spurs were rocked this week by the announcement that striker Jermain Defoe would be ruled out for up to three months.
The England front man suffered an ankle injury in Tuesday's defeat of Bulgaria and surgery on the problem means he is facing up to a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
High-profile recruit Rafael van der Vaart is in line to make his debut, although Michael Dawson joins Defoe on the treatment table for a lengthy spell.
Peter Crouch is in contention to return from a back injury, vying with Robbie Keane and Roman Pavlyuchenko for places in attack, while Danny Rose left to join Bristol City
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2[ar]
West Brom are without the suspended James Morrison following his red card against Liverpool.
Paul Scharner played a behind-closed-doors friendly with Bolton and could make his first Baggies appearance.
Tottenham's Jermain Defoe and Michael Dawson picked up serious injuries for England and are ruled out for three months and two months respectively.
New signings William Gallas, Rafael van der Vaart and goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa could come into the team.
West Brom
Suspended: Morrison (three matches)
Injured: Cech (foot), Mattock & Thomas (both ankle), Miller (thigh)
Tottenham
Doubtful: Bentley (ankle)
Injured: Dawson (knee & ankle), Defoe (ankle), O'Hara (back), Gomes & Woodgate (both groin)
The fixture list has been far from kind to West Brom on their return to the Premier League. Having Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham in their opening four matches of the season is hardly ideal, and it does not end there with a derby at Birmingham and then Arsenal to follow.
That said, they impressed at Anfield in their last league game and Roberto di Matteo's Baggies side look better equipped than in previous seasons to stop their boing-boing existence between the Premier League and the Championship.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is as proud a patriot as anyone, but even he must be cursing the cross of St George after Michael Dawson and striker Jermain Defoe suffered worrying injuries for England during the international break.
Given that news, and Tottenham's typically up and down start to the season, Redknapp must be delighted with the wheeler-dealing he did in the transfer window.
While new signings William Gallas and Rafael van der Vaart bring undoubted pedigree, their feisty characters could keep Redknapp busy. He had to look no further than van der Vaart's reaction to being substituted for the Netherlands in midweek when he rubbed his eyes in mock disbelief, swore and then openly criticised coach Bert van Marwijk.
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Head-to-head
• West Brom have beaten Tottenham 2-0 in their last two Premier League encounters at The Hawthorns.
• Spurs have managed just one victory in four visits to West Brom in the Premier League.
• There have only been nine draws in 57 League games between these teams.
West Brom
• The Baggies have won just three of their last 19 Premier League matches (v Sunderland twice and Wigan).
• This is West Brom's fifth season in the Premier League. They have never finished higher than 17th.
• They have hit the target with just 24 per cent their shots, the worst ratio in the league.
Tottenham
• New signing Rafael Van der Vaart created a goalscoring chance every 31 minutes & 27 seconds on average during his time at Real Madrid.
• Tottenham's Robbie Keane, who used to play for West Brom's bitter rivals Wolves, has scored eight goals in six Premier League starts against Albion.
• Gareth Bale has either scored or assisted seven of Spurs' last 10 goals in the league.
• Spurs have won the highest percentage of their tackles this season in the league (81%).
LEADING GOALSCORERS FROM LAST SEASON
West Brom
Tottenham
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Howard Webb
Assistant referees: Darren Cann & Mike Mullarkey
Fourth official: Rob Shoebridge
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