It’s often the case that as soon as you sack a manager, a great result follows soon after. That nearly happened to West Brom on Saturday when they grabbed a point at Wembley against Spurs. Now they have a golden chance to cheer up their fans at the Hawthorns with a home win over out-of-form Newcastle United.
Albion ended the weekend just a point above the relegation zone, but it could have been so much better if they’d hung on to the early lead they got a Wembley on Saturday. What was encouraging for West Brom fans was the way they played in that game. The defensive play that the recently departed Tony Pulis employed disappeared and more of that will bring cheers in this game regardless of the result.
The statistics still don’t make for happy reading with no wins in the Premier League since August 19. It’s hard to believe that West Brom began the season with two league wins and a Carabao Cup victory but haven’t won since in 11 league and cup games. There’s talk that Alan Pardew will be taking over as manager this week. Whether that will please Albion fans isn’t clear as he’s had his share of failures in the past.
Albion have failed to win any of their last five home Premier League games and lost the last two, though they were to Manchester City and Chelsea. Whoever does take charge on a permanent basis needs to work on their defensive problems with no clean sheets in the last nine league and cup games.
The next three games are going to be vital for West Brom. Two home games against Newcastle United and Crystal Palace are followed by an away game at Swansea City. Points in those three games are important as it’s Manchester United and Liverpool after that.
This game certainly represents Albion with a good chance of their first three points since August. Newcastle United are down in the bottom half of the table now after a run of four straight league defeats.
It’s a time of change for Newcastle too with a takeover due to be happening in the near future. Their promising start to the season has been rather wiped out in recent weeks and Rafa Benitez will be waiting for that takeover to happen so he can see what funds are available for the January transfer window. A new striker or two will be at the top of his shopping list with just one goal in their last four league games.
Away form for Newcastle is a major worry, just as it was two seasons ago when they ended up being relegated to the Championship. Just the four points from six games this season with the only win being in September at Swansea City. They have only scored four goals on their travels and only Huddersfield Town, Crystal Palace and Southampton have scored less.
Conclusion
West Brom did well to get a draw at Spurs on Saturday and the performance was a lot better than recent efforts. They have a golden chance now to get their first win in the Premier League since August. Newcastle arrive at the Hawthorns in poor form with four league defeats in a row and with a trip to Chelsea at the weekend, their slide down the table looks like continuing with Albion likely to win this game.
The Key Stats
Last Five Premier League Results – Most recent first
West Bromwich Albion – DLLLL
Newcastle United – LLLLW
Head to Head – Last Five League Meetings
05/02/16 – Newcastle United 1 West Brom 0
28/12/15 – West Brom 1 Newcastle United 0
09/05/15 – Newcastle United 1 West Brom 1
09/11/14 – West Brom 0 Newcastle United 2
01/01/14 – West Brom 1 Newcastle United 0
- Six of the last seven league games between these two sides have had under 2.5 goals scored in them.
- Four of the last five West Brom home league games against Newcastle United have had under 2.5 goals in the match.
- West Brom have only lost one of their last four home league games against Newcastle United.
- West Brom last won in the Premier League on August 19.
- Newcastle United have only four away points from six games with their only win on September 10 at Swansea City.
- Newcastle United have only scored four away league goals this season.
- West Brom have only won one home league game this season.
- West Brom have conceded in their last nine league games.
Newcastle United have only scored once in their last four league