Don’t Mention the Window: West Bromwich Albion Preview

HendersonWestBromPreview

Let’s just put the transfer window behind us for a minute here; ok, missing out on two players that we were in for is disappointing and not addressing gaping holes in our squad may come back to haunt us in the very near future. With that being said, things aren’t so bad.

No matter what happens on Sunday at the Hawthorns, we can’t drop out of fourth place; following our 4-0 demolition of Everton midweek, we’ve opened a three point gap on our closest chaser and are a mere four points off of Chelsea who has the displeasure of visiting the Etihad Stadium on Monday — and we all know what happens to teams when they try to take down the Blue half of Manchester.

While Jose tries to accomplish mission impossible, Brendan Rodgers is tasked with a much more attainable goal with West Bromwich Albion standing between him and the perfect start to the month. Despite the growing injury crisis at Anfield, the Reds enjoyed a bumper January, winning three out of four Premier League fixtures and scoring 13 goals in the process. The Baggies? Well, not so much.

Following their loss in a thrilling seven goal West Midlands Derby, Pepe Mel’s side have one win in their last 13 matches, leaving them hovering a mere three points above the relegation zone. West Brom go into Sunday’s meeting with Liverpool having allowed six more goals than they’ve scored, and with problems all over the park, they’ve got little hope of taking anything away from this weekends meeting.

Their problems at the back will only be exacerbated by their continuing challenges up top — both Nicolas Anelka and Stephane Sessegnon will miss out through injury, limiting Mel’s options even more after allowing Shane Long to leave for Hull City earlier in the month. The Reds, on the other hand, haven’t had a care in the world in the goalscoring department with the pair of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge netting a combined 36 between them — nine more than the Baggies have as a team.

Brendan Rodgers will welcome back midfielder Joe Allen after the Welshman missed the win over Everton on Tuesday, though Mamadou Sakho, Daniel Agger, Jose Enrique and Glen Johnson are still some ways away from fitness — though that’s little concern for the Reds boss at this point. The 2-2 draw with Aston Villa just over a fortnight ago aside, the Anfield side have been in fine form this season as the 4-1 drubbing of West Brom in the reverse fixture will testify.

The Baggies, then managed by Steve Clarke, did the double over Liverpool last season with a 3-0 win at the Hawthorns on opening day setting the tone for what was to be a disappointing first half of the season for the new Liverpool boss. The Reds have certainly turned the corner under Rodgers though and a repeat of that famous win isn’t something that’s expected at all.

Call it a hunch, but I think we’re about to see a Northern Irishman take out his transfer window frustrations on a team from the West Midlands tomorrow.

Steven

Got something to say that’s not related to the stupid transfer window? Go ahead and have a go in the comments. Wanna talk about the transfer window? Well, no one wants to hear about your old news.




Steven McMillan

Can’t find up from down or tell black from white, but doesn't care cause it’s all Red to him. When he's not pissing and moaning about all things Liverpool, he’s chatting nonsense with his multiple personalities — or his “entourage” as he likes to call them.

4 thoughts on “Don’t Mention the Window: West Bromwich Albion Preview

  • February 1, 2014 at 8:51 am
    Permalink

    Let’s all put behind us the January TW, and get behind the lads even more going to be a hard couple of months now but we are in a very good position to get that 4 th place ! If I were asked a beginning of season we was going to be 4 th and 7 points from top I would of been made up ! Let’s grab it reds.

  • February 1, 2014 at 9:54 am
    Permalink

    Gerrinta them!

  • February 1, 2014 at 4:18 pm
    Permalink

    My sentiments exactly; if you offered me 4th on February first and a 3 point gap on Spurs, I would have broke your arm off to get it.

    Let’s fucking have these last 15 games and spend a bushel in the summer.

  • February 2, 2014 at 1:28 am
    Permalink

    The Gunners are surely going to crash and burn, The games they have to play over the next 2 months are insane. If we can beat the Blues at home that might reduce the difference to just a point. And I am not sure if any one else has noticed but Man City don’t play a very balanced side. You can get them if you hit them on the counter on their Left side.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *