Tottenham Hotspur vs. West Brom: Match Preview, Projected Lineups & Predictions

Last hope. The walloping that Leicester City put on Swansea City yesterday has left Tottenham Hotspur little room for error if Spurs hope to win the league. Eight points back with a game in hand, Spurs will almost certainly need to win all of their remaining games to leapfrog the Foxes. Manager Mauricio Pochettino has the horses do so, as his full first choice starting XI have thrived since Jan Vertonghen returned to the lineup, thoroughly defeating Manchester United and Stoke City in consecutive league matches. Spurs have no margin for error, so the team will need to come out firing on all cylinders in their second consecutive Monday Night Football match.

Spurs host a West Brom team today that sits in 14th place, nine points from the drop. The Baggies have played classic Pulis-ball under manager Tony Pulis, as a not explosive offense has been marked by his trademark stingy defense. Despite struggling to score this season, West Brom's Salomon Rondon, Saido Berahino, Stephane Sessegnon remain the main men to watch in attack. The main test will likely come in breaking down a Baggies' back line happy to remain defensive on the road, as the center back combo of Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley are likely to start ahead of Ben Foster in net. West Brom will be happy to keep it ugly, so the key will be for Tottenham to break down this defensive side at White Hart Lane.

Can Spurs get a win at home that keeps their title hopes alive? We shall see.

How to Watch

Date/time: Monday, April 25, 2016, 8:00 p.m. (UK), 3:00 p.m. ET (USA)
Venue: White Hart Lane, London, UK
Official: Mike Jones
TV: NBC Sports Network (USA), Sky Sports 1 (UK), TSN4 (Canada), Fox Sports 4 (Australia), other listings at livesoccertv.com
Streaming: NBC Sports Live Extra (USA)
Radio: Audio streamed at tottenhamhotspur.com, also BBC Radio London and TalkSport

Projected Lineup

Not much to say on this one. Mauricio Pochettino has certainly settled on his top choice lineup, and with his team healthy we see little reason to think he will deviate from the starting XI that has yielded a combined 7-0 scoreline in consecutive wins over Manchester United and Stoke City. Son Heung-Min, Ryan Mason, and Nacer Chadli remain the subs most likely to feature.

Prediction League

As for the Prediction League, things remained the same at the top as Matthew and Mechanick foresaw wins, but no writer had the 4-0 scoreline correct. The rules remain the same in the Prediction League -- one point for a correct prediction and a bonus point for getting the score correct. Here are the current standings:

Dustin Menno: We know what Pulis is going to try and do. I just don’t think it’s going to work. Spurs score late in the first half, the wheels fall off West Brom, and Saido Berahino collapses in tears in the tunnel. 3-0 Spurs

Skipjack: 2-2 Draw, because we can't have nice things.

Ben Daniels: This is not the day we die. 5-0 Spurs

55thVin: No way West Brom can continuously play through us. Maybe they get lucky by hoofing a long ball and putting it home. So what? With our attack clicking on a high level, one goal will be little consolation. 4-1 Spurs

Luke Zimmerman: 2-1 Spurs. Scarier than it should be. These final four games will be the death of us all.

Earl of Shoop: Based on my position in this prediction league, I'm starting to feel very "West Brom" lately. Neither of us really care at this point, so why bother trying clever things. Spurs will easily down the Fighting Pulises. Spurs 3-0

Matt Pachniuk: 3-0 Spurs. COYS

Jake Meador: 1-0 Spurs, in a game much closer than it should be b/c Tony Pulis is an evil evil human being. More interesting prediction may be which WBA player Eric Dier murders after they get too rough with Dele Alli.

GN Punk: You thought Stoke were bad? Wait until you see what happens when we break Pulisball. 5-0 Spurs

Brian Mechanick: Pulis gonna Pulis, and this is going to be ugly. But give me a Kane and a Alli goal, and put the pressure on Leicester to beat United. 2-0 Spurs

Ed F.: Pulis must be stopped. 2-1 Spurs because of course Saido scores in this one.

Bryan Ashlock: I'm going to continue predicting bad things because it seems to be working. So... Ummm... Sessegnon and McClean remember what football is supposed to look like and attempt to play it. 1-0 Baggies