Christian Eriksen v Claudio Yacob: Tottenham v West Brom's key battle

Tottenham host West Brom on Monday Night Football, hoping to stay within striking distance of Premier League leaders Leicester.

Christian Eriksen will be charged with pulling Spurs' creative strings, as he's done throughout the season, and his head-to-head clash with Claudio Yacob will prove a focal point of this match.

The Denmark international's consistency has occasionally been lost at Tottenham among Harry Kane's goals, Dele Alli's emergence and the drastic improvements shown by Erik Lamela, Mousa Dembele and Eric Dier this season.

Spurs have become the Premier League's most creative unit, creating 449 chances (already 41 more than last season), and it's the Denmark international who's been their most constant source of production.

Another three chances created against Stoke last Monday, including a sublime through ball for Alli's first goal, took his tally to 105 for the season; 44 more chances than any other team-mate and a total only Mesut Ozil can better in the Premier League.

The Denmark international's 12 assists are also the division's second best return behind Ozil, but in the key, home straight of the season, no player has kept pace with the Tottenham man's form. Eriksen's peaked at the perfect time, creating more chances than any other player in 2016, providing a surge of ammunition for Spurs' attackers.

Away from his creativity, Eriksen's relentless work-rate has become another important aspect of his side's approach. Charged with leading Tottenham's high press, only seven players (of the 236 to play more than 1200 mins in the Premier League this season) cover more ground per 90 minutes than Eriksen. 

* of players to play 1200 Premier League minutes

The Dane's hassling of opposing players caught dwelling on the ball, coordinated with his team-mates, has launched many attacks and can be just as effective as his creativity.

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Hoping to subdue this considerable threat on Monday Night Football will be West Brom's Yacob. The midfielder sits in front of his back four, shielding his penalty box, as his Heatmap from Thursday's game at Arsenal depicts. His role is to disrupt opposing attackers and prevent sides from getting shots away from central, danger areas.

In a team that rarely tackles - their 561 tackles rank second fewest in the Premier League - Yacob is very much unleashed as Tony Pulis' exception to the rule. While team-mates are instructed to keep their shape instead of engaging attackers, waiting for opponents to come to them, Yacob has been one of the Premier League's busiest players this season, totalling the fourth most tackles and interceptions.

His task of continuously pestering attackers is then further emphasised by the fact he's committed the second-most fouls this season (57). If he can't win the ball back legally, he makes sure he stalls opponents any way he can.

One final comfort for West Brom is that their general unwillingness to keep the ball, especially in their own half, can potentially make Eriksen's and Tottenham's pressing game less effective than usual. The Baggies average the lowest possession (40%) in the Premier League and also average the highest percentage of long passes (22%). Therefore, when they win the ball back, as Yacob regularly does, it will be cleared before Spurs can press.

Tottenham go into Monday's clash as firm favourites, expected to maintain their momentum and take all three points to keep pressure on Leicester. Eriksen's creative form would pose questions to any defence, though Yacob has the game to frustrate the Dane and reduce his recent level of influence.

Watch Tottenham v West Brom live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Monday Night Football from 7pm.