After Tottenham Hotspur's previous biggest game of the season so far came the next biggest game of the season so far.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino's unbeaten side beat fellow title challengers Manchester City before the international break but now sought to get one over last season's bogey team West Bromwich Albion. Speaking before what ended up as the third 1-1 draw with West Brom in a row, Pochettino made clear the test he believed his team would face against an opponent that significantly dented their championship aspirations last season.
"Now we must be clever and we need to understand will be very tough game against West Bromwich, and maybe more difficult than was Manchester City," the Argentinian said in his pre-match press conference of the follow-up to the 2-0 win a fortnight ago.
"It's true that is it a different team and they push us in a different way than Manchester City. But if we want in the end of the season to fight for big things, or achieve big things, or lift trophies, we need to adapt our game and know that we need to play with a team that play in a different way."
Ultimately it was more of the same from Tottenham against West Brom manager Tony Pulis' disheartening Baggies. It was not so much reminiscent of the below-par draw at The Hawthorns a year ago, but definitely similar to the frustrating night experienced at White Hart Lane in April.
Although Tottenham did not take the lead like then, they were the better and more dangerous side in the first half.
If you are looking for signs of progress since spring, Pochettino might point to some of the football they played in this period. The several big saves the visitors inspired from West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster resulted from some great combinations and shows of initiative as they upped the pressure late on.
Foster denied Dele Alli at close-range after Erik Lamela's shot fell to him. Four minutes later, left-back Ben Davies took advantage of a rare opening ahead, burst into the home side's box and provoked an outstretched stop from Foster.
An excellent combination from deep out left with the strong Vincent Janssen set Alli free on his own run through the West Brom defence, but he struck straight at the 'keeper as he tried to guide it past him. He almost made up for it when his squared pass for Christian Eriksen led to the latter's 20-yard shot being tipped wide.
Alli eventually beat Foster to cancel out former-Spur Nacer Chadli's 82nd minute opener, cleverly prodding past the ex-England international with the outside of the boot (Alli also scored their goal here last season). Afterwards he was understandably disappointed such a finish was just to salvage a point, not secure the three he believed they deserved.
The midfielder's assessment "we need to be more clinical" (see above) is a theme Pochettino has stressed himself.
"When you do not kill the game you always allow them to believe and we conceded some chances and they score," he said following these side's previous meeting last season. Ahead of this latest clash, that failure was still on his mind.
"After 45 minutes I think we create many chances and if we finish the first-half four- or five-nil, I think it is normal," he said of the match at White Hart Lane. "I think that is something we need to improve, to be more clinical when we create more chances, then in the second-half we have the control."
That certainly helped in their two preceding league wins over Middlesbrough and Manchester City.
It was a little tense after the interval against Boro, but Spurs did enough to make sure Heung-Min Son's earlier double was enough in the 2-1 win. Against City they were even more dominant and might have made it 3-0 had Lamela netted a second-half penalty.
But, as Alli also noted, West Bromwich Albion is a hard place to go and play—Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United were among those either stopped or defeated in the West Midlands last season. With Foster in such strong form, could Spurs have done anything more?
Yes and no.
West Brom's refusal to yield before the 89th minute is testament to Pulis' planning for opponents he knows capable of outplaying his men. When focused like this, the defence is awkward to unlock and the midfield, organised to good-protective effect, makes things even tougher by blocking potentially productive paths.
Led by Salomon Rondon and driven forward by the lively Chadli and energetic Darren Fletcher (among others), they pushed the north Londoners back too. When they reached the final third, James McClean's centres were a fruitful route toward goal, one just before half-time forcing a desperate intervention from Hugo Lloris at Rondon's feet.
Spurs would have been hard done by losing to Chadli's goal, but as with Craig Dawson's damaging goal in April, West Brom were hardly fluky getting there. The in-form Belgian (see below) took the chance superbly too.
Easier said than done getting a lead then. Still, the players will be disappointed they lost direction and urgency for spells in the second half. Pochettino may rue not using more creative thinking in search of the breakthrough.
On Thursday he had joked about the recent switch to a 4-1-4-1 formation—what he described as the "plan B" to the more commonly deployed 4-2-3-1—being asked about so much. "When I was in Espanyol, when I was in Southampton and from the beginning here when we don't take good results, some comment—'oh because we play like this and don't have plan B'—now we have plan B. Plan B, C and H!"
The ensuing explanation about keeping opponents on their toes by keeping things fresh tactically, although not moving away from core tenets, was a good one. Against West Brom, though, a tweak or two more than he did may have sufficed.
Pochettino's first offensive substitution Mousa Dembele made his return from injury but is not quite so effective off the bench as he is forcefully dictating games from the start (see also his appearance as a replacement against Monaco last month). His most notable contribution was getting booked for a stupid dive after a nice run through the lines.
Son followed on the 72nd minute and would make a difference in the end, helping set up Alli's equaliser.
These were reasonable changes, but they did not give West Brom something different to contend with. A better alteration than Dembele might have been to bring on Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (although an injury to Toby Alderweireld and one substitution being used up with Eric Dier here obviously did not help).
The winger made a big difference against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League, opening up a similarly tight game. The natural pace and width offered by Nkoudou could have been the change that unsettled the Baggies and shredded up Pulis' plans.
Perhaps Pochettino should consider some more of his own pre-match words here, about the importance of using all his squad and how "the players need to feel the competition." Tottenham signed Nkoudou with such depth and variation in mind.
It is a challenging business this title-challenging, though. It is not always about glamorous opponents and memorable victories. Sometimes you have to take what you can get, and Spurs may have to accept that from this particularly irritating opponent.
The fight they showed earning a point and staying unbeaten is certainly something. They still have not conceded from open play yet in the league either, though centre-back Alderweireld's injury will be a concern here (Pochettino told his club's official Twitter there was no news here yet).
Not having to deal with Pulis and West Brom again until January is a reason to be cheerful too. Next up is a Champions League game away at Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday before Premier League action resumes with a Saturday lunchtime visit to Bournemouth.
Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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