Tottenham Hotspur vs West Bromwich Albion preview
Saturday, August 25, 2012 at 9:00 AM
Ben McAleer in MATCH PREVIEW, Match Preview, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion

Tottenham Hotspur head into the encounter on the back-end of an opening day defeat to Newcastle United.

Goals from Demba Ba and Hatem Ben Arfa condemned Andre Villas-Boas to a loss in his first competitive game in charge, with Jermain Defoe netting for Spurs.

The Portuguese tactician will be hoping for a change in fortune for the visit of the Baggies, but will be forced to make do without defender Younes Kaboul.

The Frenchman is currently sidelined with a knee problem, which is likely to see summer arrival Jan Vertonghen make his first-team debut for the club.

Michael Dawson may take his place on the bench, after the deal to take him to QPR stalled on Friday.

Villas-Boas will likely call upon Emmanuel Adebayor for the encounter, who completed his move to Spurs earlier this week, but will be without Scott Parker (Achilles), Giovani Dos Santos (calf) and Luka Modric, who is set to complete his move to Real Modric in the coming days.

Other than that, it is a clean bill of health for the 34-year-old as they take on a West Brom side who secured maximum points during last week’s 3-0 win over Liverpool.

Potential Starting XI

Friedel; Walker, Gallas, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto; Sandro, Livermore; Lennon, Sigurdsson, Bale; Adebayor 

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