West Brom v Bournemouth preview: Cherries target third straight win
Saturday 19 December 2015 15:31, UK
West Brom and Bournemouth meet in the league for the first time in over 20 years at The Hawthorns on Saturday.
The last time the teams faced each other was in the third tier in 1992/93, with the Baggies winning both fixtures that season.
Premier League wins have proved tricky to come by in recent weeks for West Brom as they have drawn their last three matches against West Ham, Tottenham and Liverpool.
But Bournemouth will be looking for a third straight victory after beating Chelsea and Manchester United on successive Saturday Night Football encounters.
The results have moved the Cherries out of the relegation zone and manager Eddie Howe hopes the performances will set the benchmark for his side.
Team news
West Brom do not have any fresh injury concerns, but Stephane Sessegnon could return to the squad after recovering from a hamstring problem.
Defender Claudio Yacob is still in Argentina after a family bereavement and will not feature, while goalkeeper Ben Foster remains out with a long-term knee injury.
Saido Berahino is pushing for a start after scoring for the U21s earlier in the week.
Joshua King should be fit for Bournemouth after being subbed with a hamstring issue against United last weekend.
Marc Pugh could return for the Cherries but Lee Tomlin is unlikely to be risked ahead of a busy run of fixtures.
Opta stats
West Brom have won just three of their last 12 Premier League home matches (W3 D3 L6).
Bournemouth have never won away at West Brom in six visits in all competitions (W0 D2 L4).
Callum Wilson is still Bournemouth's top goal scorer in the Premier League this season (five goals), even though he has not featured due to injury since September 26.
The Baggies have the lowest average possession figure in the Premier League so far in 2015-16 (39%) and have averaged a league-low 234 successful passes per game.
Bournemouth have averaged a distance of 119.1 km per game in the Premier League this season; averaging 3.7km further than any other team per game.
Tony Pulis' next defeat will be his 100th in the Premier League - only 14 managers have reached this tally in the competition.
Paul Merson's prediction
West Brom have gelled now, and got so close to a big, big win at Liverpool. They're looking more and more like a Tony Pulis side as the months go by, and they were unlucky not to get more at Anfield.
They have plenty of fight and have a bit of unpredictability about them, which is getting some of the fans back on side.
There isn't much between these two, and I think Bournemouth will look at this and think a draw is a good result, despite two huge wins against Chelsea and Manchester United.
This Bournemouth run could be the one that keeps them up. Newcastle went and won two big games too, and if Bournemouth hadn't done the same, they'd be playing catch-up perhaps. It's blow for blow around that area of the table.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (9/2 with Sky Bet)
Betting
West Brom are 6/4 favourites with Sky Bet to extend their unbeaten Premier League run to five matches with victory over Bournemouth, who are 2/1 to follow up on victories over Chelsea and Manchester United.
Those wins have eased the Cherries relegation odds and pushed them out to 11/4 while the Baggies are 13/2 to finish in the top half.
West Brom's home matches this season have averaged exactly three goals and Sky Bet are offering 3/1 on that trend continuing on Saturday. Salomon Rondon is deemed West Brom's most likely first goalscorer at 5/2, with Glenn Murray and Josh King both 5/2 shots to score anytime for the visitors.
