West Brom

West Bromwich Albion picked up a 2-2 draw in a four-goal thriller against Aston Villa on Sunday the 25th of April. The Baggies found themselves trialing after a foul on Barkley led to a penalty for Aston Villa. Anwar El-Ghazi (9’ P) stepped up and converted from the spot after sending the goalkeeper in the wrong direction. Later on, West Brom earned themselves a penalty of their own and Matheus Pereira (23’ P) also converted from the penalty spot. An own goal by Villa’s Tyrone Mings (47’ O.G) saw West Brom establish a 2-1 lead before a late strike from Keinan Davis (90’+ET’) ended the four-goal thriller. The draw leaves West Brom with a form that reads: LWWLD (Premier League) but they remain at the brink of relegation – in 19th place with five games left to play. West Brom will be missing Branislav Ivanovic and Robert Snodgrass. They remain nine-points short of safety with 25 points after 5W, 10D & 18L. On goal stats, they have scored 30 goals (0.91gpg) and conceded 64, hence, have a GD of -34. Sam Allardyce is expected to adopt a 4—1—4—1 formation with Diagne leading the attack. West Bromwich Albion remain unbeaten in their last nine home Premier league matches against Wolves – picking up five victories and four draws (W5, D4) in all. Additionally, they have kept six clean sheets, conceding only three goals in those nine games.

Relegation-threatened West Brom are in 19th place with 5W, 11D & 18L. They failed to pick up a win from the Black Country derby when they welcomed Wolves to their home turf on Monday. David Silva (45') had put Wolves in the lead but Mbaye Diagne (62') pounced on a fine cross from Conor Townsend and levelled the scoreline. - Helping West Brom to their second draw in five games: WWLDD (Premier League). The Baggies have 31 goals but have conceded 65 goals over the course of the season. West Brom have only 26 points so far this season. The Poor attack has seen them average 0.91 goals per game. A metric simply not good enough for a side playing top-tier football. Most likely, West Brom will be playing Championship football next season. Sam Allardyce was supposed to steer West Brom out of relegation waters but has failed woefully despite some impressive results in the last few weeks. A defeat on Sunday automatically sends the Baggies to relegation. A defensive 3—5—1—1 formation having Pareira playing behind the lead centre-forward, Diagne is expected. Robert Snodgrass remains doubtful while Branislav Ivanovic is ruled out. The referee for this game will be Peter Bankes while Mike Dean will serve as VAR alongside assistant VAR, Dan Robathan.

West Bromwich Albion were sent back to the Championship after the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal last Sunday. A fantastic volley by Emile Rowe Smith (29') put Arsenal in the lead. Six minutes later, Nicolas Pepe's fabulous left-footed shot (35') from the edge of the box doubled Arsenal's lead. West Brom's Matheus Pareira (67') halved the deficit after he capped off a remarkable solo run which started from his own half with a goal. However, Willian (90') restored Arsenal's two-goal lead with a brilliant free-kick a yard or two away from the penalty area. Sam Allardyce was brought in to rescue West Brom from relegation in December 2020 when he replaced Slaven Bilic but has now [Sam Allardyce] suffered the first Premier League relegation of his career. It is painful. I wanted it [survival] for the club and players more than me, but it hasn't happened, Allardyce said after the game. Everyone has to accept it and recover quickly, he added. Over the years, Sam Allardyce has established himself with the reputation of being capable of rescuing teams from imminent relegation. He saved the likes of Sunderland from relegation in 2015 and Crystal Palace in 2016. The Baggies have two defeats from five games: WLDDL as they remain rooted to 19th place after 5W, 11D & 19L. Allardyce will likely field a 4—5—1 formation with Diagne in attack on Sunday.

Already relegated, West Bromwich Albion made a sinister attempt to land a big blow on Liverpool’s race for a top-four finish on Sunday. But they failed! – By the finest of margins in what could be called the most dramatic win [for Liverpool] of the season. The game ended in a 2-1 loss for the Baggies after Liverpool’s goalkeeper, Alisson Becker (90’+5) grabbed a late win for the Reds in injury time. West Brom had held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw until stoppage time. Hal Robson-Kanu (15’) put the Baggies ahead at the quarter-of-an-hour mark before Mohamed Salah (33’) cancelled the goal out with one of his own. The defeat was the third of its kind in five Premier League games for West Brom: LDDLL. It also leaves them without a win since the 22nd of April. West Brom remain in 19th place with two games to spare and will be joining Fulham and Sheffield United in the Championship next season. Over the course of the season, poor defending has seen West Brom concede 70 goals. They have an unfavourable goal difference of -37 coupled with 26 points after 5W, 11D & 20L. Going by a goal ratio of 0.92 goals per game, West Brom may be able to find a goal in this tie. A 4—4—1—1 formation is expected from Sam Allardyce with Hal Robson-Kanu at the forefront of the attack on Wednesday.

West Brom’s outgoing manager, Sam Allardyce has been making headlines after revealing he had turned down a fantastic offer to remain at West Brom. Allardyce would like to stick to his niche as a savior [in his own words] despite being unable to steer West Brom clear of relegation waters. I’m a short-term manager who is a savior, he said. He hasn’t won a single game in his last five: DDLLL (Premier League) and since the 12th of April when West Brom defeated Southampton, 3-0. On Wednesday, West Brom added another defeat to their tally, 5W, 11D & 21L – losing to West Ham, 3-1 on home soil. They remain rooted to 19th place and will be joining Fulham and Sheffield United in the Championship next season. A goal ratio of 0.92 goals per game is partly responsible for their return to the Championship. On Sunday, Big Sam will likely adopt a 4—4—1—1 formation with Robson-Kanu ahead of the Brazilian, Matheus Pareira who has 11 goals and 6 assists this season. The Baggies have a total of 26 points ahead of this Premier League appearance. Branislav Ivanovic and Robert Snodgrass are both ruled out of this final day fixture.