West Bromwich Albion versus Liverpool: Match Preview - English Premier League
The English Premier League will kick off once again as Liverpool travel to Hawthorns stadium to face off against West Bromwich Albion. This match carries additional significance as Liverpool’s former manager Roy Hodgson, is currently in-charge at West Brom.
With pride at stake for both the clubs, let’s take a look at what tactics they might employ when they take the field on Saturday, 2nd of April.
West Bromwich Albion
After gaining a morale boosting two all draw against Arsenal, West Bromwich are in good form at the moment, despite the fact that they are deep inside the relegation mire. Currently, 16th in the English Premier League table, West Bromwich have
performed admirably against higher ranked sides in the 2010-2011 season but the Baggies have faltered whenever they have been pitted against their relegation rivals.
With just a one point difference between themselves and the 18th placed Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Bromwich need a favourable result against Liverpool to gain some margin of error as the Premier League season draws to a close. Unfortunately,
West Brom have drawn four out of their last five fixtures while winning only one. This clearly signals a lack of firepower on their part as Roy Hodgson’s team have found it hard to inflict that killer touch into some of their recent encounters.
Liverpool
Resurgent under Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool need to keep up their performances if they intend to secure a Europa League place at the end of the 2010-2011 Premier League season. After starting off the season with abysmal results under Roy Hodgson, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809
have recovered over the past three months as they have won two out of their last three Premier League matches. Their only loss came against West Ham United at Upton Park before their win against Manchester United and Sunderland.
Presently sixth in the English Premier League table, Liverpool need to win against West Bromwich Albion to close down the gap on Tottenham who are fifth in the Premier League rankings at the moment. Regardless, the Merseyside Reds’ away form remains a source
of anxiety for their faithful fans as Liverpool have only won four of their 15 away fixtures this season in the league.
Team News
West Bromwich Albion can take heart from the fact that their main players are all devoid of fitness troubles. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Somen-Tchoyi-c33772 is also expected to start following
his time spent on the substitute bench for West Brom’s last Premier League fixture against Arsenal.
Expected West Bromwich Albion line up: Carson, Shorey, Meite, Olsson, Reid, Thomas, Mulumbu, Morrison, Tchoyi, Brunt, Odemwingie
Liverpool’s captain http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Torres-c13707
in the January transfer window to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786.
Expected Liverpool line up: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Gerrard, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lucas-c22528, Meireles, Rodriguez, Carroll, Suarez
Key Players
West Bromwich will look towards their star midfielder, Chris Brunt, to fire them through to a win against Liverpool. Brunt has been a vital cog in the West Bromwich machine this season with his two goals and eleven assists. The http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Northern-Ireland-c2972 international
playmaker is set to start for the Baggies, thus Roy Hodgson will expect him to have a greater impact on the match than he had on the one against Arsenal.
Liverpool’s expectations will ride upon the tall shoulders of Andy Carroll. Carroll opened his goal scoring account for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 in mid-week and with Suarez firing on all cylinders for the Reds, Liverpool’s 35 million pound singing will be hoping to get his
first goal for the former English League champions at Hawthorns stadium.
Prediction
Liverpool are favourites to win this match, however West Bromwich Albion are no slouches as well. The Baggies are anticipated to open the scoring but Liverpool’s Carroll-Suarez combo is set to influence the match for Kenny Dalglish’s team.
Prediction: West Bromwich Albion 1 – 2 Liverpool.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer’s and do not reflect the official editorial policy of
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