Sunderland’s upcoming trip to the Hawthorns will be big for the Baggies’ play-off chances but also the first time we’ve played them since promotion to the Championship with nothing on the line for us. Let’s take a closer look at this weekend's encounter…
FORM
West Brom currently sit fifth in the Championship, all but cemented in the play-off positions heading into the final few games of the season. Carlos Corberan has led the Baggies to an impressive campaign, picking up 70+ points for the first time in four years. Brandon Thomas-Asante has been their standout forward this season, scoring 12 times in all competitions just two years after playing his football down in League Two. His all-round play has been pivotal to West Brom’s season and so has Mikey Johnston's, who has impressed since joining on loan from Celtic. The hosts are unbeaten in their last ten, with five wins and five draws. In comparison, Sunderland have just one win in our last 11. The lads will be travelling to the Midlands with hopes of building on the solid mid-week performance that saw a point picked up away to Leeds United.
Mike Dodds will be hoping his side can replicate the adept defensive displays that have seen Sunderland pick up four clean sheets in their last five games. Albeit the one game not included in that being a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Blackburn. On the flip side, he’ll also be eager to see his side improve their attacking output having blanked in three of our last five. It’s the first time in over 13 years Sunderland have had nothing to play for in a league campaign, with no mathematical possibility of a top six finish and almost no chance of getting involved in the relegation scrap.
INJURIES/BANS
Sunderland will be in the same position they were in at Elland Road mid-week. Timmy Pembele’s impressive performance allowed Aji Alese some additional time to recover from his injury, so he may feature from the start at the weekend. Trai Hume was deemed fit to start against Leeds after slight concerns in the build up to the game. Sunderland’s list of absentees remain the same with Nazariy Rusyn, Corry Evans and Jenson Seelt all out of action.
As for the hosts, the return of Josh Maja is a welcome boost to the squad, returning from injury that was caused by Dan Ballard in the reverse fixture. Daryl Dike and Jayson Molumby remain the only long-term absentees for Corberan’s squad.
PREDICTION
I think West Brom are nearly safe in the top six and of course Sunderland are just floating around in mid-table. That said, West Brom will be keen to confirm their play-off appearance with a win and should they defeat us they'll move to within three points of confirming they'll finish inside the top six. Sunderland have shown incredible defensive resilience in recent weeks but there is a lack of attacking end product, even with the return of Jack Clarke. I imagine it’ll be a cagey affair and certainly one that could go either way, but I'm going to back the Lads to pick up three points with a hard-fought 1-0 win.
