WEST BROM VS LEICESTER PREVIEW & PREDICTION
West Bromwich Albion gets a visit from Leicester City this weekend. At West Bromwich Albion they have officially not yet thrown in the towel, but there must be a miracle if this West Bromwich Albion does not relegate to the Championship this season.
West Brom:
West Bromwich Albion is at the bottom of the Premier League and the expectation is that The Baggies will still stand after 38 games. Alan Pardew does not seem to get this West Bromwich Albion to work this season and The Baggies are likely to have to play football next season in the Championship. The blame is obviously not only with Pardew, because a trainer is just as good as his material and in the case of Pardew that material is not too good. Pardew does not really have the team to play football other than the ‘long-to-get-home football’ that West Bromwich Albion plays this season, which means that West Bromwich Albion is in twentieth place in the Premier League. with a backlog of seven points on the first best competitor.
The Baggies lost last week for the fifteenth time this season in the Premier League. That high number of loss games of fifteen does not even have to be a problem – number thirteen Huddersfield Town also lost fifteen times this season – but three wins are a problem when you play in the Premier League. Last weekend West Bromwich Albion had to believe again when they went to visit Watford: 1-0. For West Bromwich Albion, it was the sixth defeat in a row and the last time The Baggies were able to score points in the Premier League in January.
West Bromwich Albion only managed to win three games in the Premier League since last March and it does not seem that there will be many victories this season for Pardew and his team. In addition, The Baggies only won once in their last 27 Premier League-games and no one really believes in a stunt from West Bromwich Albion. Certainly not because Nacer Chadli and Daniel Sturridge actually have to take this West Bromwich Albion by the hand, but both players have been injured for a while.
Leicester City:
Leicester City is a lot better than West Bromwich Albion. The team of Claude Puel is in the left row of the Premier League and the club from Leicester is definitely playing this season. The Foxes problem is that there is actually nothing more to gain or lose for Leicester City for a few weeks, because The Foxes can not really degrade anymore and a fifth place in the rankings is also far away for Puel and his team. Nonetheless, the Thai chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha would like to see them at Leicester City in the last nine games of this season still doing their best, because that only benefits the club.
The Foxes did their best last weekend when AFC Bournemouth visited the King Power Stadium. Leicester played 1-1 against The Cherries, but had earned more. For Leicester City, however, the draw already meant the fifth Premier League-game in a row that was not won and so this weekend it should be won at West Bromwich Albion. Against Bournemouth, Riyad Mahrez made the 1-1 in the absolute final phase of the game, after Bournemouth had already taken the lead in the first half by a penalty kick.
When visiting WBA, Leicester City must be able to take three points and that is what Puel expects from his team. The Leicester City manager must only miss Daniel Amartey in West Bromwich, but behind the name of the Japanese Shinji Okazaki is still a question mark. Earlier this season, Leicester City played in-house with 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion and West Bromwich Albion-home was for Craig Shakespeare his last match as coach of Leicester City. After the departure of Shakespeare, Puel was appointed as the successor of the Englishman and it went better at The Foxes, but against The Baggies Leicester City has to regain the form a few weeks ago.
PREDICTION: Under 2.5 goals @ 1.67
