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West Brom Vs Liverpool – Team News, Lineups, Stats, Preview And Prediction

West Bromwich Albion vs Liverpool

Feb 2, 2014 at 1.30pm (UK)

​The Hawthorns

Liverpool will look towards shaking off a disappointing transfer deadline day, where they failed to complete the deal for Dnipro’s Ukrainian winger Yehven Konoplyanka, when they travel to The Hawthorns on Sunday to take on West Bromwich Albion in the reverse fixture of the opening game of the season.

West Brom have not had the best of times recently and have managed to win just one of their last 14 matches in all competitions, a 1-0 home win over a ten-man Newcastle side on New Years’ Day. Their most recent loss was in the West Midlands derby against Aston Villa when they succumbed to a 4-3 loss despite taking a 2-0 lead.

Liverpool, on the other hand, have been in superb form of late, and thrashed cross-town rivals Everton 4-0 in the Merseyside derby in midweek. The win, and the resulting 3 points, gave them a nice push in the race for a top 4 spot, and they are now in 3 points clear of Tottenham in 5th place. Scoring goals has been easy for Liverpool this season, and the game against Everton was the seventh time this season that Liverpool have scored four goals or more.

Team News

West Brom: The good news for West Brom is that defender Gareth McAuley is fit again and he’s expected to return to the starting lineup at the expense of Uruguayan defender Diego Lugano. Nicolas Anelka, who limped off at Villa Park in midweek, is a unfit to play and so former Everton striker Victor Anichebe is going to start up front.

Midfielder Morgan Amalfitano is expected to play in a wider role on the right side of midfield. 21 year old French striker Thievy Bifouma, who signed on loan from Spanish side Espanyol on deadline day, is expected to be on the bench for this game.

Liverpool : Liverpool have the same set of players injured as they had in their last encounter against Everton. Defenders Glen Johnson, Jose Enrique, Mamadou Sakho and Daniel Agger are all out injured, and Liverpool will be forced to continue with the pair of Kolo Toure and Martin Skrtel in central defense. Jon Flanagan came off in the second half against Everton, but is expected to continue as is Aly Cissokho at left back.

Brazilian midfielder Lucas is still 6 weeks away from a return, and Liverpool are expected to continue with the central midfield combination of Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson. Philippe Coutinho is likely to continue in the more central role that he excelled against Everton. The good news is that Joe Allen has recovered sufficiently from his adductor injury to take his place on the bench.

The front three are going to remain unchanged as well- Raheem Sterling will play on the right wing, while Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge will interchange amongst themselves between striker and left wing.

Player to watch out for

Daniel Sturridge: Despite scoring two goals against Everton, Sturridge was at the center of controversy as he missed a penalty for his hat trick, and then had an on-field spat with Luis Suarez which resulted in him being taken off by manager Brendan Rodgers. Although he apologized in front of TV cameras later on when he came to receive his man of the match award, all eyes will be on him to see if the incident has affected his understanding with strike partner Luis Suarez in any manner whatsoever.

Match facts:

  • West Brom have won just three of their last 15 Barclays Premier League games at the Hawthorns (D6 L6)
  • Liverpool have only failed to score in one of their last 13 Barclays Premier League away games and have netted 33 in that run.
  • However, the Reds have kept just one clean sheet in their last 10 trips on the road and conceded 20 times in those matches.
  • After losing the first nine Premier League meetings with Liverpool, West Brom have won four of the last six (two defeats).
  • Liverpool have scored in each of their last 13 Premier League games, averaging 3.1 goals per game over this period (40 goals in total).
  • Luis Suarez has matched his league goal total from last season in just 18 appearances (compared to 33 in 2012/13).
  • Liverpool have made fewer substitutions than any other Premier League side this season (53).

Stats complied from Uk.yahoosport

Prediction

West Brom’s new manager Pepe Mel is still chasing his first win as West Brom manager, and is unlikely to get one considering the form of this Liverpool side. Even though neither Suarez nor Sturridge has scored at the Hawthorns, they are odds on favorites to break that record.

West Bromwich Albion 1-3 Liverpool