West Brom ended their massive twenty-one game streak with no wins in January to see them escape the relegation zone albeit for a brief period. A couple of 2-0 wins in the FA Cup against Exeter City and Brighton and Hove in the Premier League renewed hope in the Baggies camp. However, their joy was shortlived as the results have seen the club degrade yet again and the Baggies are now firmly at the bottom. They have replaced Swansea City at the 20th place who have flown high above after an impressive last few weeks. They are now 7 points off the 19th placed team and a solid 8 points off safety. Relegation now looks a strong possibility and Pardew’s men will have to get their act straight if they wish to enjoy the riches of the league next season.
However, their performances in the 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur and against Manchester City in the first half of the season where they lost 2-3 showed that they have enough quality in the squad to cut it out in the Premier League and they will need to harness more of that energy when they face Bournemouth night to target all three points.
Eddie Howe’s men are without a win in four matches and it will encourage Pardew’s men to use this as an opportunity to get all three points and deliver a little hope to the Baggies fans for survival. With only a handful of matches left to go, Pardew’s men will have to play every match as a final and try to make the safety zone come May.
Here is how the Pardew will want to set up his team.
Formation: 4-3-3
Defence
Ben Foster is expected to play in goal for the Baggies. The West Brom back-line is likely to be without captain Jonny Evans and the centre-back pairing could be Ahmed Hegazi and Craig Dawson with Gareth McAuley missing out owing to his bad performance.
The right-back position is likely to go to Allan-Romeo Nyom with the left back position occupied by former Arsenal man Kieran Gibbs.
Midfield
Alan Pardew will opt for a three-man midfield with Chris Brunt and Grzegorz Krychowiak on either side of Claudio Yacob.
Attack
The three men that Pardew will want to use up front will be West Brom’s number 10 Matt Phillips and Jay Rodriguez on the wings with target man Salomon Rondon upfront.
