Saturday 25th February 2016 Kickoff: 1500hrs West Brom v Bournemouth Football – England – Premier League West Brom entertain Bournemouth at the Hawthorns on Saturday looking to continue what has been an excellent run of form at home of late. The Baggies have won six of their last seven in the league at home, with the only defeat coming against Manchester United in the middle of December. It’s been an impressive turnaround considering they managed only one win in their first five in front of their own fans this season, and a lot of credit has to go to Tony Pulis for that. West Brom continue to pick up points on the road, too, and that has led to them cementing a place in the top 10 where they currently sit eighth, four points behind an Everton team who have massively outspent them in wages and on transfer fees. There’s clearly a ceiling for West Brom because of their lesser budget but Pulis has developed a culture at the club, similar to the one he had at Stoke, which enables them to compete. The Baggies have never finished higher than eighth in this league but they have a realistic chance of doing so this time around.
Whilst Bournemouth were not realistically expected to get much from their previous match against Manchester City, the 2-0 defeat leaves them very much involved in the relegation battle. They still have a six point gap between themselves and the bottom three but that is quickly eroded when teams continue to struggle to find wins with any regularity, and that’s certainly the issue for Eddie Howe’s men. It’s now just one win in their last nine league games and they’ve taken only five points from a possibly 27 in that spell. That’s an extremely concerning run of form, particularly as they had started the campaign very well and looked unlikely to be threatened by relegation as a result. Another major problem for them, which as blighted their season throughout, is the lack of points on the road. Bournemouth have won only two of their 12 league games this term, against Stoke and more recently Swansea. And it’s not going to get any easier for them on their travels as they still have to face three of the top five after this game, before ending with two games against fellow strugglers Sunderland and Leicester City. That away form will simply have to improve if they are to survive.
Much of West Brom’s success is down to how well they defend as a team and their organization is hard to better in this league, but they are also well capable going forward. Salomon Rondon has been a standout for them in attack but they are very much a team who spread the goals around. Bournemouth do not struggle to score goals themselves but they could learn a thing or two from Pulis’ team at the other end. The Cherries have the joint worse away defensive record in the league and it will be tested once again on Saturday.
West Brom v Bournemouth Betting Tips
The two managers of these clubs have very different approaches to the game and whilst Howe has earned a lot of plaudits for getting Bournemouth to where they are, Pulis and West Brom deserve enormous credit for how they have performed this season. They may not have the same sort of footballer at the club but they have effective players who work well together and the fact they sit six places and 11 points above their weekend opponent’s proves it’s working.
The home team make it difficult for whoever is visiting and you can be sure that Pulis will be instructing his players to make this game a physical one to put Bournemouth off their game. Howe’s men won here last season and also beat the Baggies 1-0 at Dean Court back in September, but I can see them struggling to get anything out this one. West Brom are strong at home and are scoring goals as well. This game is set up perfectly for them to take another three points and put pressure on Everton above them.
West Brom 11/10 @ Boylesports
