Home bankers

Redknapp: more woe?

Fair play to Tottenham for having the bottle to pay double bubble to bring him back - a lot of sides would have been too embarrassed to pay that kind of money for a player they sold 12 months ago.

Paul Merson
Quotes of the week

Aston Villa v West Brom
12.30pm, Sat, Sky Sports 1&HD1
Wigan v Tottenham
1.00pm, Sun, Sky Sports 1&HD1

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• Aston Villa
• Tottenham Hotspur

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  • West Bromwich Albion
  • Wigan Athletic

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• Andy Gray
• Peter Beagrie

Sky Sports expert Paul Merson looks ahead to this weekend's live offerings.....

Merse on Aston Villa v West Brom
Merse on Wigan v Tottenham

Aston Villa v West Brom

West Brom don't get nearly enough points away from home but they always have a go and this should be a good game.

They'll have a chance at Villa Park and a lot will depend on who's fit for Villa. Having seen them in the FA Cup last weekend, they're not as formidable when they haven't got their full team out. Gareth Barry, Martin Laursen and Gabriel Agbonlahor have hardly missed any games and I don't think their squad is anywhere near strong enough. When push comes to shove they're a little bit short.

There's no doubt Villa have done absolutely brilliantly so far - if they win on Saturday they'll be one point behind Chelsea. But the Villa team picks itself at the moment, Martin O'Neill doesn't need to spend much time in his office thinking about who to leave out, so I'd say they need to bring in a few options in January.

Villa struggle when teams go there and put 10 men behind the ball (they've had four 0-0s at home this year) but with the way West Brom play this will be like an away game for Villa. The Baggies have won two out of three league games, they're on a bit of a roll and they'll go there with confidence.

Booming Baggies

This is a free game for Tony Mowbray. They'd have taken four points over Christmas and they got six. A month ago they'd have looked at a trip to high-flying Villa and wondered what they might get out of it, but now it's a free game and they can go out and attack Villa.

I believe if West Brom had lost to Man City they would have been relegated. Instead they won it and now they're the team with momentum in the relegation scrap. A win on Saturday would take them out of the bottom three for a while, but it could still go the other way. Every team up to and including Hull are still in the dogfight so West Brom still have a lot to play for.

A couple of good results can send you flying up the table and not many teams have been able to get a run going, so fair play to West Brom. They deserve it because they play good football.

PAUL'S PREDICTION
Home win - This will be a very, very difficult game for Villa, but I do think they will win. I'll go for 2-1 or 3-2 to the home team because it certainly won't be a walkover.

MERSON'S MAGIC MAN
The Villa supporters - The expectations are rising at Villa Park and it's important the crowd don't see this as a certain three points. If they turn up thinking the game is a gimme then Villa will struggle - we've seen it with other teams who've been in this position. The fans need to get behind them as they have been and they could be the most important aspect of the game on Saturday. It's a local derby so I'm sure they will.

Wigan v Tottenham

If it wasn't for Jermain Defoe I wouldn't hesitate in declaring this match a home banker.

I watched Tottenham against Burnley on Tuesday night and they were shocking in the first half. If they'd been playing a Premier League team there'd have been no point in coming out after the break, but Harry Redknapp once again proved what a good manager he is by sorting them out at half time.

People still talk about West Brom, Stoke, Hull and Middlesbrough as teams that could go down, but they don't seem to put Spurs in the equation. If you ask me Tottenham are right in that relegation scrap. They are more disadvantaged than some of the others because they're a big club and everyone raises their game against them so if they don't improve they are in major, major trouble.

Defoe will be a massive, massive help to them. He's the nearest thing to Ian Wright in the modern game and I rate him very highly. Fair play to Tottenham for having the bottle to pay double bubble to bring him back - a lot of sides would have been too embarrassed to pay that kind of money for a player they sold 12 months ago. It's an absolutely brilliant deal because I can't see where you're going to find a better centre forward in the transfer window. There won't be a better striker than Defoe bought in January.

After seeing Spurs the other night he's a certainty to start against Wigan and personally I'd pair him with Luka Modric. I'd like to see Modric in a free role feeding Defoe because he gets beaten up in central midfield; they should give him the freedom of the park to go out and hurt people.

Latics on a roll

Wigan have got some momentum going with three wins in a row and everything seems rosy. But sometimes when that happens teams take their foot off the pedal and before you know it they've lost five on the trot and are back in the bottom five again.

We've seen teams like Bolton and Middlesbrough go on good runs and then all of a sudden they can't win for toffee. Wigan still need a couple more wins in the next three or four games to say they are safe. Not a lot of teams can win four on the trot but Wigan could do it this weekend - but they know they're just as capable of losing five on the trot. However, I'd be very surprised if they went down this season.

PAUL'S PREDICTION
Home win - Defoe could be the difference for Spurs, but I just think Wigan will be too strong for them. Tottenham can't afford to play like they did in the first half against Burnley, but that performance wasn't a one-off. If Wigan get an early goal they could overpower Tottenham and win 3-0.

MERSON'S MAGIC MAN
Antonio Valencia - He's a really good player and represents the strength that Tottenham haven't got all around the pitch. I'm not surprised Real Madrid have been linked with him. Spurs are too lightweight and the power and pace of Wigan will be too much for them.