West Bromwich Albion have been in a pretty good run of form of late and as a result, find themselves just four points behind Everton who occupy the seventh spot in the league table. Tony Pulis’ side are unbeaten in five games and will have the confidence to get the better of Crystal Palace, a side who are still in the relegation zone despite their recent win.
Judging by the position and the form of the two sides, West Brom will be the favourites for the clash but Crystal Palace are more of a confidence team. The Eagles have some good players in their squad and it was quite a surprise that Sam Allardyce took this long to pick up his first win of the year. Nevertheless, with the new signings finally starting to click, they could soon move out of the bottom three if not by this weekend.
When the two sides met on the opening match day, West Brom ran out narrow winners courtesy of a Salomon Rondon winner and he’ll hope to be the difference make once again this weekend. The Baggies do have a good record against Palace and have managed three wins against them in the last five fixtures.
Here’s the team Pulis could choose to make it four wins in six.
Predicted West Brom line-up
Ben Foster has been an assured presence in goal for the Baggies. While his distribution might not be the best, his shot-stopping ability and his reflexes have earned the team quite a few points this season. West Brom’s aged backline might not have a whole lot of pace, but their game reading ability and compact nature makes it difficult for teams to break them down.
Evans and McAuley are expected to partner each other at the heart of the defence while Nyom and Dawson could start as the two full-backs.
In the midfield, we could see Yacob returning to partner Jake Livermore and Darren Fletcher. Nacer Chadli and Chris Brunt are expected to start as the two wide players. The former likes to drift inside and play more like a playmaker. Palace will have to keep him silent if they want to pick up a win or even a draw. Matt Phillips is still a doubt but could get some game time in the second half if Pulis will really need him.
Salomon Rondon will lead the line and his battle with Mamadou Sakho will be an intriguing one to watch.
Foster
Dawson – McAuley – Evans – Nyom
Livermore – Yacob – Fletcher
Brunt – Rondon – Chadli
