English Premier
2011-10-29 - West Brom vs Liverpool
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Premier League
Saturday 29 October 2011 - Kickoff 5:30pm
This game is live on TV
West Brom
Roy Hodgson gets to face his former club for the second time since taking over West Brom at the Hawthorns and he would dearly love to record another 3 points after a rough 6 months at Anfield. Hodgson is not the kind of man who will be vocal about the toughness of his situation while in charge at Liverpool, where the fans never really took to him, but he would prefer to let his team do the talking on the pitch.
The Baggies recorded a big win last week at local rivals Aston Villa last week and that helped move the team up to 13th in the table. They have a 1-1-2 record at home this season, scoring 3 goals and conceding 3, making them the lowest home goal scorers in the League so far this season along with Queens Park Rangers.
After a tough start to the season, West Brom are unbeaten in their last 4 League games and should have a bit of confidence in their ability to cause a surprise in this one having won their last 2 League games. They are unbeaten in their last 2 games at home, both coming with clean sheets, after losing their opening 2 games here.
Graham Dorrans could return to the squad for this game, but Shane Long has been ruled out for 6 weeks after he was on the end of a ridiculous tackle from Alan Hutton last week that was unbelievably not punished.
Liverpool
Kenny Dalglish must have been delighted to see his Liverpool side progress through to the Quarter Finals of the Carling Cup after an impressive 1-2 win at Stoke City during the week, but the Scot will be hoping his side can find some consistency in the League if they truly want to rejoin the Champions League party next season by finishing in the top 4.
Liverpool could only draw 1-1 with Norwich City at home last week and that meant they dropped down to 6th in the table having gained 15 points from their 9 League games so far this season. They have been inconsistent away from home where they are 2-0-2 this season, scoring 4 goals and conceding 5.
The Reds are unbeaten in 6 games in all competitions since the 4-0 loss at Tottenham and they have won 4 of those games. Liverpool have drawn their last 2 League games, but both of those were at home, and they actually won their last away game at Everton. Liverpool have actually won 3 in a row away from home in all competitions.
Kenny Dalglish has a full squad of players to choose from in this game and I expect he will make a few changes from the side that beat Stoke City in the Carling Cup with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Charlie Adam and Dirk Kuyt will all be hoping to return to the starting XI.
Head to Head
West Brom beat Liverpool 2-1 here last season as Roy Hodgson gained a measure of revenge over the team that had sacked him just 3 months earlier.
That is actually the first time the Baggies had beaten Liverpool in the Premier League era, losing all 9 previous meetings against them.
In fact, West Brom had not SCORED a League goal against Liverpool before the win here last season.
Prediction
Liverpool had a very impressive win at Stoke City on Wednesday night, but I still think they are a little short in the market to win this game, even with their recent history at the Hawthornes and against West Brom in general.
Roy Hodgson will set out West Brom in a manner where they are difficult to break down and hard to beat, much as he did with his successful Fulham teams, but also one that will try and get forward and score a goal.
The problem is they have lost Shane Long for the next 6 weeks or so and goals may be a little bit more of an issue for them. West Brom have not exactly been scoring lots anyway this season, with only 2 goals in their last 3 home games and failing to score in 2 of those.
I can see Liverpool being good enough to keep a clean sheet, but they are going to have to work hard to earn the 3 points here and I think I prefer picking one, or both, of these sides to fail to score in this game at odds against.
3 of the first 4 West Brom games at home would have seen that pick come in as a winner, while all 4 of Liverpool's away games in the League would also also seen that come in as a winner.
Add the fact that 9 games between the teams would have seen the pick being cashed and I think that is the way I will play this game.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
West Brom 0-1 Liverpool
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Both Teams NOT to Score @ 2.00 (Ladbrokes<)
