Tottenham Hotspur have climbed to second in the Premier League table after Harry Kane's hat-trick helped his side claim a resounding 4-0 win over West Bromwich Albion at White Hart Lane.
Mauricio Pochettino's charges dominated from the start and struck twice before half-time, first through the England striker and then thanks to a Gareth McAuley own goal.
Kane added his second with a volley on 77 minutes and claimed his hat-trick five minutes later, firing home after latching on to Dele Alli's skilful scooped pass over the Baggies defence.
Here is how Sports Mole covered the action in North London.
Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Premier League clash between Tottenham Hotspur and West Bromwich Albion.
With the FA Cup and EFL Cup fixtures now out of the way, it's time to focus once again on the bread and butter of the league, and with both sides in good form and flying high, they will be eager to get back to action.
Mauricio Pochettino's charges are still well in the hunt for the title and are looking for a seventh straight win in all competitions, with a chance to leapfrog Liverpool into second place in the table the reward for victory today.
The Baggies are also in good form, having won six of their last 10 league matches to sit eighth in the table, and can climb to seventh should they claim all three points in North London today.
Without further ado, let me bring you the team news for the day's early Premier League kickoff at White Hart Lane.
SPURS STARTING XI: Lloris, Walker, Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Wanyama, Dembele, Eriksen, Alli, Kane
WEST BROM STARTING XI: Foster, Dawson, McAuley, Olsson, Brunt, Fletcher, Yacob, Chadli, Morrison, Phillips, Rondon
SPURS SUBS: Vorm, Davies, Trippier, Winks, Sissoko, Nkoudou, Son
WEST BROM SUBS: Myhill, Galloway, Robson-Kanu, McClean, Leko, Field, Wilson
After making nine changes for their FA Cup victory over Aston Villa, Mauricio Pochettino reinstates his first-team players and goes back to the same Spurs line-up that beat Chelsea 2-0 in their last Premier League match.
Harry Kane and Dele Alli are both restored to the starting line-up, with Vincent Janssen not even on the bench this afternoon, and the only two players to keep their place from the 2-0 win over Villa are Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld.
As for Tony Pulis, he makes three changes from the Baggies XI that was surprisingly knocked out of the FA Cup at home to Derby County last Saturday.
Nacer Chadli starts against his former club this afternoon, while Ben Foster and Chris Brunt also come back into the team for Pulis. Brendan Galloway, James McClean and Boaz Myhill are the players who drop out, while Jonny Evans remains absent from the squad as he continues to nurse a calf problem.
Spurs are chasing their sixth Premier League win in a row, while West Brom are hoping to claim their third straight league win. Something's got to give today.
Two West Brom players will be hitting career milestones today - congratulations to Chris Brunt and Gareth McAuley.
📷 Chris Brunt makes his 300th league appearance and 200th @premierleague start for Albion this afternoon! Congratulations Brunty!#WBA pic.twitter.com/73FDq6SbI8 — West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) January 14, 2017
Gareth McAuley will make his 200th appearance for Albion in this afternoon's @premierleague fixture at @SpursOfficial #WBA #TOTWBA pic.twitter.com/1Fmz3bAPOY — West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) January 14, 2017
Speaking before the game, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino recognised the danger that West Brom would pose to his side. He told BBC Sport: "It will be a difficult game. If you saw the games West Brom played against Chelsea and Arsenal, they were very well organised. They will put us in a very difficult situation without space to play - it will be difficult to find space to create a lot of chances."
Tony Pulis, meanwhile, hinted that his side will be lucky to get anything from the game, and singled out one particular player for praise: "When you play against a top team like Spurs, anything you get is a bonus. It'll be a tough game for us. Dele Alli has got the world at his feet. It's there for him. He's a goalscorer. He's a top player."
With half an hour to go until kickoff, the players have come out onto the White Hart Lane pitch to begin their warm-ups.
The stats behind this fixture and the two teams involved make for some interesting reading. Spurs have not beaten West Brom at home since January 2012 - in their last four meetings in North London, they have drawn three and lost one.
However, West Brom have taken just one point from a possible 21 against teams in the top seven this season, compared to 28 points from a possible 39 against the rest.
Tottenham have won only one of their last seven Premier League games against West Brom, drawing five times, but the Baggies have collected only one Premier League win at White Hart Lane before, courtesy of James Morrison's winner in September 2014.
In this same fixture last April, which ended 1-1, Craig Dawson netted for West Brom and scored an own goal in the same match. He was the last player to do this in the Premier League and the only person to do it for the Baggies in the league.
West Brom boss Tony Pulis singled out Dele Alli for praise ahead of the game, and he's not the only one - the young England midfielder has been receiving rave reviews by pretty much the entire footballing world for his stellar performances.
Pochettino was also quick to pay homage to Alli and said that some of the biggest clubs in the world are likely to be monitoring his form. The Argentine told Sky Sports News: "Success breeds success, and a lot of Tottenham's players are starting to demand interest from different clubs. Real Madrid and Barcelona are going to be interested and I would say Dele Alli is the prime suspect right now. Everyone wants him, and if I was the manager of Real Madrid and Barcelona, I would want him. He is a wonderful player and very young."
In the context of facing West Brom, Alli has scored in two of his three league games against the Baggies, but in last year's fixture, he was banned after punching Claudio Yacob in a 1-1 draw that many claim was what ultimately cost Spurs the title.
Many eyes today will also be on Nacer Chadli, who joined West Brom from Spurs in the summer and got four goals and two assists in his first five games for the Baggies. As we all know, returning players have a knack for getting on the scoresheet against their old employers, so he'll be one to watch.
SCORE PREDICTION: With just a few minutes to go until kickoff, it's time for me to have a pop at predicting today's score. Now I reckon West Brom will be more than a match for Spurs, but with the hosts in such great form, I think they will have the final say. 3-1 to Spurs I reckon, with Chadli netting for the visitors.
Both sets of players have emerged from the tunnel.
Ahead of kickoff, there will be a minute's applause to remember former England manager Graham Taylor, who sadly passed away aged 72 this week.
KICKOFF! We're underway at White Hart Lane as the visitors kick off.
Rose goes down after getting caught by an arm from former teammate Chadli, but the contact appeared to be accidental and, after a brief stoppage, we're up and running again.
Chadli and Rose face off again down Tottenham's left flank, but the West Brom attacker does well to barge his former teammate off the ball and earn a goal kick for the visitors.
CHANCE! Rose manages to get the better of Chadli this time and is able to whip a low cross into a box which finds Kane, but the Spurs striker steers his first-time effort just wide.
CHANCE! Vertonghen is allowed plenty of space to maraud forward and he decides to have a pop from 25 yards out, but the effort sails high above the bar.
CHANCE! It's been all Spurs in these early stages as Rose feeds the ball into the path of Kane, who cuts onto his right foot and drives the ball well over Foster's bar from 25 yards out.
GOAL! TOTTENHAM 1-0 WEST BROM (HARRY KANE)
Spurs take the lead just before the quarter-hour mark and it's no surprise given their dominance so far in the game - Eriksen is the architect as he surges forward and feeds a throughball to the feet of Kane, who takes a touch and slams home via the inside of the post.
West Brom are struggling to cope with the attacking power of their opponents as Alderweireld releases Walker down the right flank and the full-back curls the ball towards the near post with Kane lurking, but McAuley intervenes to get the ball out for a corner.
CHANCE! West Brom withstand a succession of corners but nearly come undone again as the ball falls to Rose 25 yards out, but it's on his weaker right foot and ends up flying high over Foster's crossbar.
Rondon is fouled from Foster's ball forward and Albion have a free-kick 40 yards from goal, which Phillips takes but ends up striking the first man and comes to nothing.
Chadli whips a cross into the Spurs box which is flicked on by Olsson at the back post into the path of Rondon - the move is thwarted for offside but Lloris pulls off a great reaction save nonetheless.
West Brom are under siege here as Spurs just keep on coming - first Brunt makes an important block to deny Kane at the back post, then from the corner Foster makes the save from Kane's point-blank header!
GOAL! TOTTENHAM 2-0 WEST BROM (GARETH MCAULEY OWN GOAL)
Spurs get their second of game with not even half an hour played, and it comes courtesy of Christian Eriksen's shot from the edge of the area, which hits Jonas Olsson and then Gareth McAuley on its way past the wrongfooted Ben Foster, who was left helpless.
Spurs have the ball in the back of the net again as Eriksen sends a lofted pass over the top for Alli's run and he finishes with an effort into the bottom corner, but the linesman's flag rules it out for offside.
CHANCE! And it's Spurs once again who nearly notch up another goal, but Foster saves well after Kane latches on to Walker's low cross and fires at goal.
CHANCE! And again! Kane gets the better of McAuley and fires a low drive towards goal, but Foster tips the England striker's effort onto the post and behind for a corner.
West Brom continue to be under siege as Walker charges down the right and whips the ball into the path of Kane, who wins a corner, but Foster claims Eriksen's cross from the byline following a shortly-played set piece.
Some respite for West Brom as Spurs appear to be slowing down in the latter stages of this half, possibly with a view to saving energy for the second half.
Just one minute of added time at the end of this half, which cannot come soon enough for Tony Pulis.
HALF TIME: TOTTENHAM 2-0 WEST BROM
The referee calls an end to the first half and the players make their way back into the changing rooms. Two different sets of faces as Spurs have been rampant in the opening 45 minutes, while West Brom's players will probably be glad to just be two down at the break, as well as wondering just what they need to do to come back into this.
The hosts stormed out of the starting blocks, registering three chances before taking the lead through Harry Kane in the 12th minute, and they continued to lay siege to their beleaguered opponents throughout the first half - save perhaps for the last five minutes - with a second goal, via an unlucky Gareth McAuley deflection, to show for their dominance.
Harry Kane in particular has been the star for Spurs today, grabbing one goal, but he could have easily had at least a hat-trick by now, were it not for some superb goalkeeping by Ben Foster.
The stats do a good job of showing off the one-sidedness of this game - Spurs have had 10 shots on goal, four of which were on target, have made 312 completed passes, won seven corners, and enjoyed 78 percent possession.
West Brom, in comparison, have not had a single shot in the first half (on or off target), not won a single corner, completed just 61 passes, and have had just over a fifth of possession (22 percent). Needless to say, Tony Pulis will have a mighty job on his hands to sort his charges out and make them competitive in this game at the very least.
60 - Harry Kane has reached 60 Premier League goals faster than any other Tottenham player in the competition (99 games). Homegrown. — OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) 14 January 2017
KICKOFF: The second half is now underway, with no changes at the break for either side.
CHANCE! And it's a bright start for the Baggies as Phillips breaks forward and runs at Alderweireld before dragging an effort just wide of the far post from a narrowing angle.
Olsson whips a long ball over the top that forces Lloris off his line to try and clear, and Fletcher gathers and immediately goes for goal, but his snapshot is high and wide.
Alli surges down the left wing and wins a free kick after going down under pressure from Fletcher, which Eriksen curls into the box but comes to nothing as Foster claims with ease.
SUBSTITUTION: James McClean replaces Chris Brunt for West Brom, who switch to a wing-back system.
PENALTY SHOUT! Spurs want a penalty after Alli goes down in the box under pressure from Dawson, but referee Anthony Taylor waves the appeals away!
CHANCES! Foster is on top form in between the sticks for West Brom as he makes THREE saves in quick succession, denying Alderweireld, Vertonghen and Kane.
SUBSTITUTION: Nacer Chadli's shift comes to an end as the former Spurs man is replaced, with Hal-Robson-Kanu coming on in his place.
SUBSTITUTION: We have a stoppage in play as Jan Vertonghen crumbles to the ground and appears in distress after seemingly injuring his ankle, and indeed he cannot carry on, having to be helped off the pitch as Ben Davies takes his place on the field.
BOOKING: Just before Vertonghen was subbed off, Olsson was shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Kane.
CHANCE! Dembele is allowed all the time and space to gather the ball on the edge of the box and go for goal, but the effort sails way off target above Foster's bar.
Eriksen and Kane work well together on the edge of the box in a bid to force another strike at goal, but last-ditch defending from McAuley and Olsson prevents the move from going further.
BOOKING: Walker is fouled by McAuley on the right, an off-the-ball incident, but the booking goes the way of the Spurs player as he complains to the referee.
CHANCE! Another minute, another Spurs shot, another Foster save. The Baggies stopper is again on hand to keep out a low strike from the edge of the area, this time from Wanyama.
Quarter of an hour plus stoppage time left and Spurs' stats stand at 19 shots, 9 on target, 450 completed passes and 70 percent possession, while West Brom have mustered two efforts, though neither hit the target. Suffice to say that this game is only going to go one way, barring a miraculous late Spurs collapse / West Brom rally.
GOAL! TOTTENHAM 3-0 WEST BROM (HARRY KANE)
The game looks even more likely to be going one way now, as Spurs make it three, and this pretty much caps off a great day for Kane and a nightmare shift for McAuley, who was facing his own goal down his left when he was robbed of possession by Walker. The Spurs man then whips the ball into the path of the England striker, who keeps his composure and volleys home, with Foster out of position as he was awaiting McAuley's pass back.
GOAL! TOTTENHAM 4-0 WEST BROM (HARRY KANE)
This is now a rout, and Spurs are very much showing their credentials as Premier League title challengers, with Kane getting his hat-trick thanks to Alli's lob over the top of Olsson, allowing the striker to volley home into the bottom corner.
SUBSTITUTION: Moussa Dembele is replaced by Harry Winks for the home side.
Spurs know that it's job done, so they're just taking the sting out of the game by slowing the tempo down.
The Spurs fans are cheering their team's every pass now, while West Brom's players most likely just want to get off the field and move on from this thrashing.
SUBSTITUTION: Kane leaves the field off to a standing ovation as Heung-Min Son comes on to help see out the final stages of the game, with two minutes' added time.
FULL TIME: TOTTENHAM 4-0 WEST BROM
All over at White Hart Lane and Spurs have put in a scintillating performance to blow West Brom away, 4-0 the final result.
The Baggies simply could not withstand their opponents on the day as Harry Kane nabbed a hat-trick, while Gareth McAuley had a game to forget as he scored an own goal, was caught in possession for Kane's third and risks being sanctioned for an off-the-ball incident with Kyle Walker.
That's all we have time for here at White Hart Lane but stay with Sports Mole as the bulk of the day's Premier League action prepares to get underway, with live commentaries, match reports and all the latest news! Thanks for following and, until next time, goodbye!
Written by
Giuseppe Labellarte
Giuseppe Labellarte
