Tag: West Brom

Everton v West Brom: Toffees Still Dreaming of Champions League

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Everton currently lies eight points adrift of Liverpool in the race for the fourth and final Champions League qualifying spot ahead of this coming Saturday afternoon’s clash with West Bromwich Albion at Goodison Park.

A win for Ronald Koeman’s men would narrow the gap on their city rivals Liverpool to just five points, with Arsenal and Manchester United also still challenging strongly for a top four finish, something the Toffees haven’t achieved since 2004-05.

West Brom meanwhile, currently sitting eighth under Tony Pulis’ tutelage, go into the match on Merseyside just nine points short of their highest ever total of 49 in the Premier League. And with 11 matches still to play, the Baggies look in good shape to possibly even better their highest ever finish of eighth achieved in 2012/13.

However, to do so Pulis’ men could do with overcoming the Toffees on Saturday who currently holds a four-point advantage over them in seventh place. They will also have to contain the Premier League’s second top goalscorer Romelu Lukaku, who has bagged 18 goals already this season, one more than he finished with back in 2012/13 when on loan at The Hawthorns.

Everton to Win and Lukaku to Score a No Brainer

Everton’s number nine has been in imperious form of late, notching nine goals, seven of them in the league since the turn of the year, including four in one game against Bournemouth at the start of February. One goal more will see him beat his previous career high total of league goals, which he achieved last term while two goals will incredibly see him become the first Everton player since Gary Lineker in 1985/86 to hit 20+ league goals in a single season. The big Belgian has also scored his club’s first goal on eight occasions already this season and is the 3/1 favourite with BetFred and Ladbrokes to make it nine occasions on Saturday.

Koeman’s main concern, as always, will be how Everton will cope if something happens to Lukaku. Ross Barkley and right-back Seamus Coleman are Everton’s second top goal scorers thus far with a paltry four goals each, while West Brom’s Salomón Rondón is hardly streets ahead of them himself as West Brom’s top goalscorer with just seven goals this season and none since a hat-trick against Swansea in mid-December.

McAuley to Notch Once Again?

Baggies veteran centre-back Gareth McAuley, with six goals to his name to date, offers a huge threat in the air from set pieces, something Pulis perennially has his teams extremely well drilled on. The Northern Ireland international is a superb 13/1 with Paddy Power to increase his tally at any time on Saturday and a massive 35/1 to open the scoring, both wagers surely worth digging deep for.

However, with Lukaku in such impressive form and with Everton having lost just one league match at home all season, it’s difficult to look past them extending their record and my top tip for this one will be for the Toffees to come out on top in a match where both teams hit the back of the net. Bet365 will offer that exact outcome with lucrative odds of 3/1 available for any willing punters.

If Everton’s vociferous home support can cheer them to yet another victory on Saturday and a few other results go in their favour, the odds of Koeman’s men qualifying for the Champions League qualifying rounds for the first time in 12 years, currently on offer at 125/1 with Bet365, will undoubtedly lower. And if you’re thinking Everton achieving a top four finish is impossible, let’s just cast our minds back to Tuesday evening when Barcelona proved that sometimes dreams can come true when they sealed a stunning 6-5 aggregate victory over Paris Saint-Germain to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals despite losing the first leg in Paris 4-0.

As the great British poet and author C.S. Lewis once said: “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” Keep dreaming Everton fans, you just never know!

Who Will Win the Top Midlands Derby?

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Leicester City may have been crowned champions last season but that is well and truly in the past now. There is little doubt as to who the current top two teams are in the midlands. That honour belongs to West Brom and Stoke City. Once again they are showing the rest of the league how to survive comfortably in what is the toughest league in Europe. Their respective managers Tony Pulis and Mark Hughes must take a lot of credit for that.

The balance of power in the midlands has swung away from Aston Villa and Birmingham City in recent seasons. West Brom is best-priced 11-8 with BetVictor and as the home team are rightly the clear favourites. Tony Pulis spent several successful seasons at Stoke and was the guiding force behind their transition into being a regular Premier League club.

Simply Nothing to Choose

The fact of the matter is that there is simply nothing to choose between these two clubs. This has been the case for the past several seasons. Clubs like West Brom and Stoke never seem to fire the imagination but both of them play entertaining football when they need to and are a match for any top club on their day.

Stoke are a best-priced 12-5 with Bet365 while the draw is an interesting 11-5. If you fancy these two teams to battle out a draw but you don’t fancy the 11-5 then why not take the better odds of 4-1 on the score being level at half-time and full-time? That seems to be better value given the fact that there is so little to choose between these teams.

Stoke have the Flair Players

Stoke City do seem to have the better of it when it comes to talent. Players like Marko Arnautovic, Charlie Adam and Xerdan Shaqiri are players who can turn a game and excite the crowd. West Brom, on the other hand, have grit and that reflects their “no nonsense” manager Tony Pulis. Games like these are often decided by singular moments of brilliance or a big decision by the referee or possibly by pure luck. There are rarely comfortable wins for either team and that especially applies to the away team.

So we can expect a close encounter with the winning margin being no more than two goals at best. Stoke and West Brom are renowned for grinding results out with their solid approaches and that is why they are where they are in the league table.

Southampton vs. West Brom – Tense, Exciting Battle for Mid-Table

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Two teams in solid form coming together in what will be a tactical and potentially cagey mid-table battle between two effective and organised squads.

Clash of the Overachievers

Southampton and West Brom have undoubtedly been two of the surprise packages of the season so far. Having seen second summer of transfer raids on St Mary’s, and a third managerial regime change in 3 successive seasons, Southampton were being tipped at the beginning of this season for possible decline.

Currently sitting in 7th place after a good run of form, taking 10 points in the last 5, and progressing in the EFL Cup with a 2:0 win away to Arsenal, Claude Puel is proving those critics wrong. A poor showing in the Europa League could end up being a mixed blessing for a side looking to finish in a solid Premier League position while competing in 2 domestic cups. Southampton has a game in hand over West Brom, playing Tottenham on Wednesday night in their post-Christmas fixture. This will be an important game for Puel, as a defeat here could spell the end of any hopes for his team to finish in a top 6 position, while a victory will see them keep pace while doing damage to an immediate rival.

Against West Brom, the Frenchman will have to deal with some absences: with Jordy Clasie definitely out and Alex McCarthy in doubt, as well as long-term injuries for Charlie Austin and Matt Targett. Having only 3 days between their previous game, as opposed to West Brom’s 5, could have an impact on overall squad fitness.

Getting back to their best

West Brom is currently 8th, only one point behind Southampton, having played one more. The Baggies will be looking to pick up important points in a game they have every reason to believe they can win, or at least take points. Tony Pulis’ squad have had some tough recent fixtures, playing Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea in the last four, with their win against Swansea the only bright point in a gruelling winter period. A closer look at those games, however, demonstrates an organised and capable West Brom side. Against both Arsenal and Chelsea, they only lost by one goal conceded in the last 10 minutes, and they weren’t exactly overwhelmed by United. Pulis generally puts his back to the wall against the bigger clubs, while targeting teams below or around him to try for consolidated results, and he will very much want to take 3 points in this last game of December.

West Brom is amongst the fittest squads in the League, with all first team players available, apart from Saido Berhino who hasn’t played a role so far this season.

Where is the value?

We have seen a clean sheet in the last eight games these two have played, and the last nine games split evenly with each team taking 3 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses. Picking a result seems to be quite a challenge, with West Brom having the edge in fitness, but Southampton having the home advantage.

It’s very hard to imagine this being a particularly high scoring game; Southampton has one of the lowest BTTS ratings in the league, as well as a good run of home clean sheets. BTTS/No and Under 2.5 goals looking like solid picks, they are both at 8/13 on Bet365. Some outside bets on a correct score could be interesting, with Southampton 1:0 and 2:0 at 19/4 and 7/1 respectively on BetVictor.

 

West Brom vs. Man United – Can Pulis frustrate Mourinho?

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Week 17 sees Man United head to the Hawthorns to take on West Brom for Saturday’s 17:30 fixture. United will be looking to build on improving form as they try to salvage something from their worst start to a Premier League campaign since 1989. After putting together a decent run of results they are just about keeping pace with battle for European places in 6th. In contrast, Pulis’ West Brom are having a fantastic start to the season, only 4 points and 1 place behind United in 7th, having scored 1 more goal than Jose’s £718 million squad have managed.

The Devils comes to Albion

December has been good to United so far, they go into this game on the back of two consecutive wins against Tottenham at home and Palace away, and having qualified for the next round of the Europa League. One serious problem they have exhibited in the season so far is an inability to kill games off, leading to throwing away leads in the last 10 minutes. We saw this with Everton, Stoke and, most bitterly, against Arsenal at Old Trafford. The last two results seem to buck this trend and show a United with strength of character and mental resilience more resembling that of years gone past. This was especially clear in the Palace game, where they were able to turn a draw into 3 points in the 88th minute. It seems like United are finally pulling together some good form.

Bailly going off on Wednesday, and almost certainly missing the game on Saturday, contributes to a small injury crisis at United, especially in defence. They will be without him, Smalling and Shaw at the back, and emerging attacking prospect Henrik Mkhitaryan is out until late December.

Bagging a result

West Brom is looking like they could be this season’s surprise package. The steady leadership of Tony Pulis has seen them rise to the dizzying heights of 7th place after a string of solid performances. Last Sunday saw them take Chelsea on in an impressive organised, defensive display; only conceding and losing the match through a superb piece of play by star striker Diego Costa. Wednesday night’s game saw them take apart Swansea in all of 13 minutes, with Salomón Rondon scoring one of the few all-headed hat-tricks in Premier League history. The quality of deliveries leading to the goals is worth noting.

Their form in the last month and a half has been particularly good, with 4 wins in 6 and the only loss to Chelsea. A large part of Albion’s success so far this season has come from beating teams equal or below them in the table; against supposedly higher quality teams they have mostly come up short.
However, playing at the Hawthorns against a United team still taking Bambi-esque steps towards having any kind of form, and buoyed by their positive performance against Chelsea, Pulis may just fancy his chances for a good result. He will have an almost entirely fit squad, missing only Evans and Berahino.

Finding the value in a tight game

Expect another organised performance from West Brom, and a laboured, possession-heavy United performance. Bet 365 have Under 2.5 goals at 3/4, which seems to be good value. Coral have 1:1 at 8/1, also worth a punt. Salomón Rondon anytime goalscorer is at 11/5 on Bet Victor if you think he will be able to carry on with his goal scoring run.

Chelsea To Continue Their Good Form With An Entertaining Win

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CHELSEA put a real marker down on their Premier League title aspirations last weekend with a mightily impressive 3-1 win at the Etihad against one of their main title rivals Manchester City.

This weekend they are expected to continue their excellent run of form with what looks a relatively straight forward three points at home to West Brom.

It’s incredible to think that just two months ago Chelsea boss Antonio Conte was the bookies favourite to become the next Premier League manager to lose his job, but eight Premier League wins for the Italian since then has seen the Londoners’ move to the top of table and installed as the 2.25 favourites to be crowned champions again.

Chelsea is very short for another win at just 1.30 with Stan James, and despite the visitors playing their best football under manager Tony Pulis, they should prove too strong against the Baggies.

West Brom is unbeaten in their last four games and was excellent in the 3-1 win last week at home to Watford, but this really is a massive jump in class to recent wins over Leicester and Burnley, and even at the huge 15.0 it’s very hard to find any case for a West Brom win.

Will They Park the Bus?

In recent years when manager at both West Brom and Stoke, Pulis’ has been guilty of parking the bus at the Premier League top sides and putting 10 men behind the ball in an attempt to frustrate his more illustrious opponents; I don’t think that will be the case at the weekend.

This season West Brom have been the entertainers with eight of their last ten matches seeing both teams scoring and 32 goals scored in that period.

Over 2.5 goals looks a nice bet to me at 1.70 with BetVictor, and despite Chelsea having a fantastic recent defensive record, I can see both teams scoring in this one at the general 2.20 that is with most firms.

Chelsea’s recent form has been mainly due to the return of goals from striker Diego Costa and the Spaniard looks a happy player again, currently topping the Premier League goalscoring charts; I like him to add to his impressive goal total by opening the goalscoring in this one at the general 3.75, with another 3-1 Chelsea win looking very tempting at 13.0 with Bet365.

West Brom vs. Watford – Mid Season, Mid Table Battle

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This Saturday Watford travels to the Hawthorns to take on rival high-flyers West Brom. Both teams are sitting pretty in the top half of the Premier League table, Watford with 18 points and West Brom with 17. Each will be looking to take vital points against a team they will likely be vying against in May, possibly for a place in Europe.

A look at each team’s recent record shows remarkably similar form in the season so far, with both having a fairly even spread of wins, draws and losses. Ahead of a tight game at 15:00 on Saturday, we are taking an in-depth look at the two squads to try and unpick the football betting value.

A Solid Start

West Brom has made an impressive start to the season. Tony Pulis is well regarded a safe pair of hands, having helped steer the course for Stoke and Crystal Palace in becoming established Premier League clubs. His cautious, consistent approach to management has worked well for the Baggies, who are clearly flourishing under his leadership.

West Brom’s form is solid; they perform strongly against mid and lower table teams and have scored in all but three games this season. With four 1:1 draws so far, they have an ability to scrap for points when it counts. A 2:1 home win against Champions Leicester is a high point for the team.

With few injuries, Albion will be able to field a strong squad on Saturday. Saido Berahino hasn’t played a key part in the season this far, so his absence won’t be too keenly felt. Pulis will hope to draw on goals from Salomon Rondon and Nacer Chadli.

Watford has been a surprise package since rejoining the Prem last season. A promising 2015-16 season ended with a mid table finish, an FA cup semi final and the somewhat bemusing sacking of Quique Flores. Gino Pozzo, their Italian owner, appointed his compatriot Walter Mazzarri as manager in the summer. Untested in the jungle of the Premier League, Mazzarri is a manager with some pedigree in his home nation looking to prove himself on this new stage.

Watford is quickly proving themselves to be an exciting team capable of playing open, high scoring football on their day. A surprise 3:1 home victory against Man United, and, like West Brom, a 2:1 win against Leicester has shown that Watford is a team capable and willing to try to outplay more established clubs. This approach has come back to bite them; a 6:1 thrashing by the increasingly terrifying Liverpool has taught a lesson to any club thinking they can play open, progressive football at Anfield.

A match day squad could quite likely be missing two regular defensive starters in Younes Kaboul and Jose Holebas. Aside from them, Mazzarri will be able to pick from his regular starters. Captain Troy Deeney should start, a player who is a challenge for any defence to cope with.

Finding the value in a close game

It would be wise to expect a fairly even game, with both teams probing each other to find weakness in the first half. The fixtures from last season saw only one goal, resulting in a 0:1 away win for Watford, so we shouldn’t expect a high scoring game. While picking a winner between the two is tough, West Brom could edge it due to the home advantage. Paddy Power is offering 6/5 on West Brom win, and 23/10 on a draw.

However, with West Brom having recording four 1:1 draws so far this season, and both teams with an exactly 61.54% BTTS rate, a score draw seems like it could come through. Bet 365 have 1:1 at 11/2 and BTTS and draw at 7/2.