With a focus very much on Wednesday night’s Europa League final, Liverpool will travel to The Hawthorns stadium to face West Bromwich Albion in Premier League’s last fixture of 2015-16 season.
Liverpool in their league fixture, played a 1-1 draw at Anfield against Chelsea, where the team scored the equalizer in the dying minutes of the game. On the other hand, West Brom played a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth at the Vitality stadium last weekend.
Klopp is expected to make several changes to the side as the focus will be on Europa League’s fixture. West Bromwich haven’t won a single game from their last eight games and hence, Liverpool carry an upper hand in the fixture. A win for the hosts will take them above Everton, while a win for the Reds will take them to West Ham’s level i.e 6th on the table.
West Brom vs Liverpool Team News-
West Brom will be without Chris Brunt and James Morrison with their respective ACL and hamstring injuries. Jonny Evans, Darren Fletcher, Stephane Sessegnon and Alex Pritchard all are doubtful for the clash against the Merseysiders.
Liverpool, on the other hand, will be without Origi (ankle, 18 May), Henderson (knee, 18 May), Ings (knee, Aug), Gomez (knee, Aug), Rossiter (hamstring, unknown) will be on the bench in the following fixture.
Lineup:
West Brom:
Foster
Dawson; McAuley; Olsson; Evans
Leco; Yacob; Flectcher; McClean
Sessegnon
Rondon
Liverpool:
Mignolet
Flanagan; Lucas; Skrrte; Smith
Ibe; Allen; Stewart; Brannagan; Ojo
Benteke
Stats-
- Liverpool have lost none of the last five Barclays Premier League games against West Bromwich Albion (W2 D3).
- Daniel Sturridge has scored in both of his Premier League appearances for Liverpool against West Brom.
- Liverpool have lost each of their last three final day fixtures in the Premier League which have been away from Anfield (2011, 2012 and 2015).
- Tony Pulis’ side have lost their last three Premier League matches at the Hawthorns without scoring. The last time they went four without finding the net was January 2005.
- West Brom have won just one of their nine final day Premier League matches (W1 D5 L3).
- Six of Christian Benteke’s nine Premier League goals for Liverpool have come as a substitute – more than any other player has managed this season in the top-flight.
- West Brom have fired in fewer shots on target than any other team in the Premier League (106).
- The Reds have found the back of the net in each of their last 13 Premier League games, their longest scoring run in the competition since April 2014 (25).
Tactics-
The Obvious threat for Liverpool’s center halves will be Sessegnon and Rondon. Sessegnon possess great energy and the player is capable of sprinting past the defenders easily. West Brom didn’t have positive results recently, but still the side is a threat for Liverpool’s inexperience defenders (because Lucas is not a defender).
Rondon on the other side, is a strong and powerful striker. He is not the quickest one, but in terms of physicality and aerial abilities, the Venezuelan professional can trouble the center backs. Pulis’s attack usually starts with the ex- Manchester United star Darren Fletcher, who is the engine of the team.
Liverpool, on the other hand, might be playing with an entire young squad. The players will have a relatively easy time in the midfield, but with Olsson and Dawson in the back, the side might face a tough time.
Prediction-
With Liverpool’s young squad, this is likely to be a tight game. Brom will be depending on the counter attacks, while Liverpool will be looking to exploit the game from the wings. Tough one to call, but I’m pretty sure that Liverpool might snatch a win.
1-2 Liverpool