Already relegated West Bromwich Albion host West Ham at The Hawthorns in a midweek Premier League clash.
Victory will lift West Brom up to 18th, whereas West Ham could climb to sixth with a win if Tottenham lose to Aston Villa in Wednesday’s teatime kick-off.
Team News
West Brom have no fresh injury concerns to report following Sunday’s loss to Liverpool, as Branislav Ivanovic (hamstring) and Robert Snodgrass (back) remain absent.
West Ham have no fresh injury concerns to report after Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Brighton, as Arthur Masuaku and Manuel Lanzini could return if fully fit following respective knee and groin injuries.
Stat Attack
- West Brom are winless in four of their last five league meetings against West Ham (W1, D2, L2).
- West Ham are unbeaten in three of their last five league visits to The Hawthorns (W2, D1, L2).
- Matheus Pereira has assisted in six of West Brom’s 33 league goals this season.
- No Premier League midfielder this season has lost more aerial battles than West Ham’s Tomas Soucek, who has lost 145 of his 362 aerial duels in 36 appearances.
- Michael Oliver is refereeing a West Brom home match for the first time since a 3-2 defeat against Southampton in February 2018.
Prediction
West Brom enter this game off the back of a difficult loss to Liverpool because they played incredibly well across the pitch, especially defensively in weathering constant waves of Liverpool attacks.
West Ham meanwhile just struggled creatively to break down a stubborn Brighton defence, so I would like to see them come here and really look to show more creativity in attack otherwise this could be another long evening for the Hammers.
On that note, this should be a closer contest than many might expect but if West Ham can make those little improvements to their play, I can see more late heartbreak heading the Baggies’ direction.
Prediction: West Brom 1-2 West Ham
Result: West Brom 1-3 West Ham
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