Coming out of a 0-1 defeat to Southampton at home at The Hawthorns, Tony Pulis’s men now prepare to receive Liverpool on Sunday. While West Brom will be hoping for a positive result, they would bear well in mind that they are just 4 points ahead of Southampton, who have two more games in hand to make up for that gap. The Baggies, though, could remain rooted to the 8th position they are currently in on the EPL table for some time at least, given that Southampton’s next outing is a tough one against Manchester City. West Brom should consider themselves fortunate to be in the Top 8 considering that they have lost half their Premier League outings since December. This also explains why they are behind 7th placed Everton by a yawning gap of 10 points.
The Baggies have found goals hard to come by as their recent records suggest. Barring a 3-1 win against Arsenal, they have gone without scoring in 5 of their 6 previous outings. Their premier scorer, Salomon Rondon, hasn’t found the back of the net this year while mainstays Gareth McAuley and Nacer Chadli have been well below their best. The defence has been suspect and leaking goals in almost every match they have played this year, making the Baggies the only team with a negative goal-average (apart from Watford) in the Top half.
For Liverpool, it could be a struggle to remain in the Top 4 in the coming weeks. With 63 points from their 32 games, Jurgen Klopp’s men find themselves behind leaders Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur by 12 and 5 points respectively and both these
sides have played a game less than Liverpool at 31. Liverpool will be without some of their key players in the form of Adam Lallana, Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane out owing to injuries. Mane has been the Red’s top scorer with 13 goals, but they have enough attacking firepower with the likes of Roberto Firmino and Phillipe Coutinho leading the charge upfront. The Brazilian pair of Firmino and Coutinho have been in scoring form getting 11 and 10 goals so far to their credit and accounted for both the goals in Liverpool’s recent 1-2 away win over Stoke City. Liverpool’s away record in the 2016-17 have fallen short of expectations, reading like 7wins/5draws/4lost and conceding defeats to bottom-half teams like Burnley, Bournemouth and Leicester City.
Moreover, their history of visits to the Hawthorns won’t inspire much confidence among fans. The Baggies had held Liverpool to draws in all their previous three visits to the ground and most astonishingly trounced them 3-0 in a August 2012 fixture. So, even though the odds favour Liverpool, it would come as no surprise if proceedings at the Hawthorns get difficult for the visitors.
Recommended Tip: Liverpool to Win, Best Odds 17/20