West Bromwich Albion vs Southampton. Premier League.
The HawthornsAttendance25,911.
Saturday 3 February 2018 13:48, UK
Jonny Evans and Daniel Sturridge could both start for West Brom when they host relegation rivals Southampton on Saturday.
Evans, who was the subject of a rejected bid from Arsenal on Deadline Day, missed Wednesday's 3-0 defeat to Manchester City with a hamstring injury.
However, he is expected to be available along with Sturridge, who joined the Baggies in January and came on as a substitute against City.
Although West Brom are bottom of the table, they have lost just two of their last eight matches.
"What we've done, even though we're bottom of the league, is drawn all the middle table into us," said manager Alan Pardew. "The bottom teams have picked up points and we've gained on those teams in the middle area and made everybody nervous. That's important and we've got to keep doing that."
Southampton are on the longest winless run in the division, having not tasted victory since November 26.
They start the weekend in 18th place in the table, three points above West Brom, who will wear special shirts in honour of former striker Cyrille Regis after he passed away on January 14.
New West Brom signing Ali Gabr could feature, but Nacer Chadli (hip) and James Morrison (Achilles) remain sidelined.
Southampton have doubts over striker Manolo Gabbiadini after he missed training on Thursday due to a hip problem. He will be assessed ahead of the trip to The Hawthorns.
Recent signing Guido Carrillo could be given his first start after making his Premier League debut as a substitute against Brighton in midweek, but fellow forward Charlie Austin remains out with a hamstring injury.
There have been just seven goals scored in the last nine top-flight league meetings between these sides at the Hawthorns.
West Brom have lost just one of their last six Premier League home games, but four of these have ended in a draw (W1 D4 L1).
Southampton are now 12 games without a win in the Premier League - the worst current run in the division (W0 D7 L5).
Alan Pardew - who managed 64 games for Southampton in all competitions between August 2009 and August 2010 - has never lost a home league match against the Saints (P5 W3 D2 L0).
Daniel Sturridge has scored on his first Premier League start for three different clubs - Liverpool, Bolton Wanderers and Manchester City, only failing to do so for Chelsea in the competition.
Charlie Austin has scored twice as many Premier League goals as any other player for Southampton this season (6), this despite playing only 599 of the 2250 minutes possible (27 per cent).
West Brom will be looking at it and thinking how many teams have still got to play Man City? There was nothing expected of them on Wednesday and they've now got their two games against City out of the way. I think they've done well since Alan Pardew came in and Daniel Sturridge is a brilliant signing for them. It was a big boost that he picked them over Newcastle and it speaks volumes for the manager that he can bring in a big player like that. For me, he will be the difference for them in terms of staying up, starting on Saturday.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0 (10/1 with Sky Bet)
