The bottom-placed WBA beat Man United at the Old Trafford last weekend. Can they do something similar this Saturday, when they play against Liverpool at the Hawthorns? Find out in this WBA vs. Liverpool match preview!
WBA
With only 24 points and just four rounds left to go, WBA are almost 100% sure to get relegated. Still, it seems that they won’t accept their destiny that easily. This team is gonna fight for the last breath, which their performances in the last couple of weeks testify.
After a series of defeats (nine in a row!), West Bromwich Albion played 1:1 with Swansea City on 7th of April. A week later, this team achieved their biggest success of the season – beating Man United at the Old Trafford.
Still, even with that win, they’re far from the safe zone. They would need to win a minimum of nine points in the last four rounds in order to avoid relegation. But, even if they managed to do that, it wouldn’t mean anything unless their main competitors failed to win a single point.
All considered, if WBA managed to avoid relegation it would be a bigger surprise than when Leicester had won the Premier League.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that WBA won’t be motivated in the duel with Liverpool. They surely want to say farewell to the Premier League with a couple of good performances. And the last weekend’s game has shown them that they can cope with big-name teams.
Still, to be completely honest, WBA didn’t deserve a win in the duel with the Red Devils. They were pretty lucky not to concede in that game, but I doubt the lady luck will be on their side two times in a row. In my opinion, they’re gonna get destroyed by the Reds on Saturday.
Liverpool
Right now, Liverpool have only four points less than Manchester United, who are in the 2nd place. In order to overtake that position, they will need to play well until the end of the season, which doesn’t seem that hard, considering the fact that they have a pretty easy schedule ahead.
They do have to face Chelsea (at the Anfield, which is surely gonna be an advantage), but the other two games are against Stoke and Brighton.
What can be a slight problem for Liverpool is that they’re fighting on two fronts at the moment. Apart from competing in the Premier League, they’re also fighting for the final of the Champions League. In fact, next week they play Roma in the semifinal.
For this reason, their coach, Jürgen Klopp, might decide to give some of his key men a rest. Sadio Mane and a few others might start this game from the bench and come in if their team needs them.
Team News
WBA absentees:
- Gareth Barry (injury)
- James Morrison (injury)
- Daniel Sturridge (injury)
- Hal Robson-Kanu (doubtful)
- Jonny Evans (doubtful)
- Nacer Chadli (doubtful)
Liverpool absentees:
- Joel Matip (injury)
- Adam Lallana (injury)
- Nathaniel Clyne (injury)
- Emre Can (injury)
- Dejan Lovren (doubtful)
- Joe Gomez (doubtful)
Possible Lineups
WBA:
Foster – Hegazy, Dawson, Nyom, Gibbs – Livermore, Brunt, Phillips, McClean – Rodriguez, Rondon
Liverpool:
Karius – Van Dijk, Klavan, Alexander-Arnold, Robertson – Henderson, Wijnaldum, Oxlade-Chamberlain – Salah, Solanke, Firmino
WBA vs. Liverpool Match Prediction
I can see no other outcome but a big Liverpool win. They have the quality and the motivation on their side, not to mention that they’re in a great form lately, so beating WBA should not be difficult. Moreover, I expect Mohamed Salah to keep on scoring. The current top scorer of the Premier League has scored eight goals in the previous five games he played for Liverpool, some of which were against much tougher teams than WBA. He will also be playing for Egypt this year; fans can watch him play in the World Cup via live stream.
WBA vs. Liverpool Betting Tips
- Liverpool @1.50 (bet365)
- AH Liverpool -1.5 @2.44 (10Bet)
- Mohamed Salah to Score Anytime @1.84 (Unibet)
