Premier League preview: West Brom vs Arsenal

koclokindoblog, 11 Mei 2012, Arsenal can secure a berth in next season's Champions League group stage with a victory away to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

The Gunners (67 points) are winless in their last four starts but can put third spot beyond the reach of Tottenham (66) and Newcastle (65) with three points on the final day of the season.

A loss or draw, however, would leave Arsenal sweating on the results of Tottenham's clash against Fulham and Newcastle's journey to Everton and could bundle the Gunners out of the Champions League altogether.

The West Brom faithful are expected to give new England manager Roy Hodgson a rousing farewell as he takes change of his last game at the Hawthorns before turning his attention to England's Euro 2012 campaign.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has warned his players not to be overawed by the occasion.

"I believe that it will be an emotional departure, maybe, but I think what is important for us is to turn up with a good performance and win the football game," Wenger said.

"It will be another tense week. When you consider the last three home games, we have taken two points, we have a lot of regrets. Let's hope we will not pay the heavy price for that.

"We don't know whether fourth will be enough. It is not Champions League (proper), it is a qualifier at best. Maybe not at all if Chelsea win the Champions League."

West Brom striker Shane Long believes his Albion team-mates owe it to Hodgson to secure a top-half finish in the Premier League.

"It's been a pleasure playing under Roy and I'm a better player for it because I've learned a lot of new things," Long told the official West Brom website.

"He's turned us into a stable club in the Premier League that are looking up rather than looking down."

Arsenal were 3-0 winners last time the sides met in November with Robin van Persie, Thomas Vermaelen and Mikel Arteta all scoring at the Emirates.

 

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Premier League preview: Bolton vs West Brom

koclokindoblog, 4 Mei 2012, A tense final fortnight in the Premier League awaits struggling Bolton, starting with a home clash against West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

Bolton, fresh off a 4-1 loss to Tottenham on Wednesday, are third-bottom and must find form in their final two fixtures to avoid playing in the Championship next season.

Even if they beat West Brom and Stoke City on the season's final day, two wins for Queens Park Rangers from their remaining games will see Wanderers relegated.

"We have two huge games now to decide our own fate," Bolton manager Owen Coyle said.

"We've shown before that we have the character to bounce back and that's what we will do. We will dust ourselves down and be ready for Sunday when we go again against West Bromwich Albion."

Playmaker Chung Yong Lee is an outside chance to make his comeback 10 months after he was stretchered off with a double fracture of his right leg in a pre-season friendly against Newport County.

The 23-year-old South Korean star survived a reserves team hit out last week and could be selected on the bench.

Coyle's charges will also be boosted by the availability of defender Gretar Steinsson who has missed the past two matches due to illness.

Midfielder Darren Pratley is another in line to play after sitting out the past four matches with a virus.

West Brom and new England boss Roy Hodgson will not want his players resting on their laurels at the Reebok Stadium, where they will be buoyed by a large travelling contingent of at least 4400 supporters.

West Brom, on course for a top-10 finish this season despite losing their opening three games, will be desperate to finish Hodgson's stint at the Hawthorns in winning fashion.

They have already achieved two of Hodgson targets for the season including staving off relegation and finishing the campaign as the best-placed West Midlands club.

But they are yet to deliver on his third assignment - bettering the 47 points picked up last year - but a draw on Sunday would see them equal that mark with a game to spare.

 

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Premier League preview: Liverpool vs West Brom

koclokindoblog, 19 April 2012, FA Cup finalists Liverpool will turn their attention back to the English Premier League when they host West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

Liverpool have slipped to eighth on the table after winning just once in their last five league matches.

But they return to Anfield full of confidence after edging Everton 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley last week.

"It's now a case of getting ourselves back down to earth," Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish told liverpoolfc.tv.

"We've not got much experience of dealing with big games and the matches that follow it.

"A few of the lads have been through it, but mainly we are a new team and this is a new test for the majority."

With three matches to play before the FA Cup decider against Chelsea on May 5, Dalglish is hopeful Liverpool can produce a similar reaction to their Carling Cup victory at Wembley in February.

"The following weekend (after winning the Carling Cup) we went out and produced one of our best performances of the season against Arsenal," he said.

"Now we're just off the back of another good result at Wembley, and we want a similar response."

With West Brom's top-flight status all but secured, manager Roy Hodgson has challenged his players to finish above local rivals Aston Villa for the first time since 1979.

Albion are 13th with four matches remaining, seven points ahead of 15th-placed Villa, who have a game in hand.

"That would definitely be the goal - to break what is neither a record or a hoodoo, but a fact of life that it's a long time to be below an important rival," Hodgson told wba.co.uk.

The game will Hodgson's first at Anfield since he left Liverpool in January 2011.

West Brom defender Jonas Olsson could return from a groin complaint to face the Reds, but striker Marc-Antoine Fortune remains doubtful with a hamstring problem.

Liverpool have won their last five Premier League home games against West Brom without conceding a single goal.

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Premier League preview : West Brom vs QPR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

koclokindoblog, 14 April 2012,
Queens Park Rangers will be flying high as they tackle West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on Saturday.
A 3-0 triumph to the Londoners over Swansea in midweek has catapulted Mark Hughes' men two points clear of the drop zone, while WBA lost their third in four matches when they slumped to a 4-0 loss to Manchester City.

While Roy Hodgson's men are well and truly safe from relegation, the manager was less than impressed with their efforts at Eastlands, and will want to make a statement against last season's Championship winners.

QPR, though, have more to play for than pride, as they continue their battle to stay alive in the cut-throat Premier League, with three wins in their past five elevating them to a position to battle for their top-flight status.

WBA seemed to have slumped back into their old habits in recent times, shipping plenty of goals.

Last season, Albion leaked the second-most goals in the league but managed to survive the cut, and in their past six they have kept just one clean sheet - and not co-incidentally, that came in their only win that run.

Outside of that streak, 12 goals in the other five games in that run is a worrying sign for Hodgson, after they had promisingly allowed just one goal in 270 minutes preceding the run.

QPR's defensive record this season fares significantly worse, as their shutout of Swansea marked their first clean sheet against Premier League opposition since they kept out nine-man Chelsea in October.

Those statistics suggest there will be plenty of goals in the fixture, and both will be desperate to post points - WBA for honour, and QPR out of desperation.

 

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