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West Brom vs Huddersfield Town Preview: Classic Encounter, Recent Form, Team News & More
West Brom will be the host of a relegation six-pointer when they face Huddersfield Town at the Hawthorns on Saturday.
West Brom sit at the foot of the Premier League table, five points behind their next competitors Stoke in 19th and with just 11 games remaining, Alan Pardew will be hoping his side can pick up what would be a vital win.
As for their opponents, Huddersfield also find themselves in trouble sitting just one place and one point above the drop zone. A loss would not only allow West Brom to close the gap between the two clubs to four points, but would also give both Southampton and Stoke to leapfrog them and for the Terriers to fall into the relegation zone.
Classic Encounter
The two sides have only met three times in the last 18 years, although the fact that their first meeting of this season was indeed the first meeting between the two sides in the Premier League added sentimental value to both clubs.
Heading into the game, Huddersfield had enjoyed the start to life in their first ever Premier League season, and were sat two points above West Brom in 13th place. Their good form continued as Rajiv Van La Parra struck for the hosts on the stroke of half time to give them a deserved lead.
Although the hosts were made to play the final half an hour of the game with 10 men when Christopher Schindler was shown a second yellow card, Huddersfield were able to hang on and scrape over the line with a well fought 1-0 win. The win lifted them up to 11th in the league whilst West Brom dropped to 16th after the defeat.
Recent Form
West Brom's form heading into this clash has been dire. They've won just one of their last 25 games in all competitions and are sat rock bottom of the Premier League. Many have tipped West Brom as relegation favourites and with 11 games left to play, you would think the Baggies will need a result against fellow relegation candidates Huddersfield to give themselves a chance.
As for Huddersfield, they had lost five consecutive games and found themselves in the bottom three until their astonishing 4-1 home win over Bournemouth in their last Premier League game. The win lifted them out of the relegation zone and although they were dumped out of the FA Cup on Saturday by Manchester United, spirits among Huddersfield fans will be high.
Team News
Daniel Sturridge limped off just four minutes into his second West Brom appearance during their 3-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It looks as though he is set to miss out with a hamstring injury whilst it also looks likely Jake Livermore and Nacer Chadli will miss out through respective injuries they continue to recover from.
As for the visitors, Michael Hefele missed out on Huddersfield's FA Cup defeat to Manchester United through illness, however is set to return to the squad this weekend. Unfortunately, it looks as though Aaron Mooy and Elias Kachunga are set to miss out through injuries they are yet to fully recover from.
Potential West Brom Lineup: Foster, Dawson, Hegazi, Evans, McAuley, Krychowiak, Barry, McClean, Brunt, Rondon, Rodriguez
🎥🏃♂️Take a look at David Wagner's #htafc team in training as they prepare for Saturday's @premierleague game with @WBA ⬇️ ⚽️(SE) pic.twitter.com/ysPPWDk2tv
— Huddersfield Town (@htafc) February 21, 2018
Potential Huddersfield Town Lineup: Lossl, Hadergjonaj, Zanka, Schindler, Malone, Hogg, Williams, Ince, van La Parra, Pritchard, Mounie
Key Battle
Steve Mounie vs Jonny Evans
If West Brom are to get anything from this game they will need to contain the threat of Huddersfield's attack, and centre to that attack is Steve Mounie. After a quiet spell, Mounie has scored three goals in his last three games and is beginning to hit form at the right time for his team.
Standing in Mounie's way will be West Brom skipper Jonny Evans. Although he has kept just the four clean sheets this season, he will play a vital role in his side's remaining games to try and keep his side in the Premier League, and will be tasked with limiting the effect Mounie will have on the game on Saturday.
Prediction
With both sides struggling to keep the ball out of their own net this season, there will be a high chance of goals in this contest. Huddersfield will be coming off the back of a 4-1 win over Bournemouth and a stern performance in a narrow 2-0 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday, taking plenty of positives into this game.
With West Brom winless in their last four Premier League games, there will likely be a nervous tension around the Hawthorns come Saturday and the Baggies will need to start quickly. For me, I predict a cagey affair with a lot on the line for both teams should they lose, a score draw for me.
Prediction: West Brom 2-2 Huddersfield Town
