Manchester United vs West Bromwich Albion
English Premier League
Date: Saturday, 1st April 2017
Kick-off at 15:00 UK/ 16:00 CET
Venue: Old Trafford (Manchester).
Manchester United will hope to take a step closer to the top four when they host West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Saturday. The Red Devils are four points off a UEFA Champions League place, but they could be further behind by the time they kick-off if bitter rivals Liverpool beat Everton in the Merseyside derby earlier in the day.
United are in form, but the Baggies will also enter the game with some momentum after comfortably beating Arsenal 3-1 last time out in the league. The visitors will be buoyed by facing what could be a depleted squad, with United set to be without suspended duo Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ander Herrera.
Manchester united defeated Middlesbrough 3-1 just before the international break to extend their unbeaten in the Premier League to 18 matches. Despite winning by a healthy 2 goal margin, it wasn’t a comfortable ride. Middlesbrough did give the Red Devils the run for their money. A headed goal from Marouane Fellaini in the first half and a brace from Jesse Lingaard certainly gave the visitors the edge. But it was a blunder from Victor Valdes that killed off the match when scores were tied at 2-1.
Jose Mourinho and his men moved up to 5th in the Premier League table after spending over 100 days in and around the 6th spot. They trail Liverpool on 4th position by 4 points, but United have two extra games in hand.
Meantime, West Brom picked a morale boosting home win over Arsenal in their last round fixture. The Baggies always looked in control throughout the 90 minutes, while the Gunners were chasing shadows around the park. Toni Pulis will be a delighted man after the win coming on the back of consecutive defeats.
The Baggies are 8th in the league table with 43 points to their name, 7 less than Everton just above them. Away from home, West Brom have a poor record and managed just 14 points from their 14 games so far.
Manchester United: Team News
Mouriho will be without a number of key players for the weekend fixture against West Brom. Zlatan Ibrahimović and Ander Herrera are serving suspensions, while Pogba joined the injury list along with Chris Smalling and Phil Jones. Meantime, Rooney, Rojo and Fellaini are carrying minor knocks, but are still available for selection.
Manchester United: Predicted Line-Up (3-4-2-1)
De Gea – Shaw, Blind, Bailly, Valencia – Carrick, Fellaini – Martial, Mata, Mkh – Rashford.
West Brom: Team News
Tony Pulis has no fresh injury concerns for the trip to Manchester. However Mat Philips is likely to miss out after failing to recover from a muscle strain in time.
West Brom: Predicted Line-up (4-5-1)
Foster – Nyom, Evans, McAuley, Dawson – McClean, Brunt, Livermore, Flecther, Morrison – Rondon
Manchester United vs West Brom: Head to Head Statistics
In the reverse leg of this current season, Manchester United pulled a 2-0 win at the Hawthorns with goals a pair of goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
However, West Brom can boast of some great results in their recent visits to Old Trafford after winning in 2 of the last 3 matches here.
Manchester United vs West Brom: Predictions
Manchester United are a team in great form at the moment, but the absense of Zlatan, Pogba and Herrera could make things hard for them here. The latest stats at Old Trafford do not good either. They won just once in the last four matches here and were held to draws in three. Two of which came against extremely poor away sides Hull City and Bournemouth.
Truth to be told, West Brom’s away form is nothing to write about. But they will certainly thing, if Hull and Bournemouth can get a point here, why wouldn’t we.
Expect a closely fought battle on Saturday and Manchester United are expected to drop points at home once again.
Manchester United vs West Brom: Bet Tips
Full-Time Result – Draw at 5.00 with Betfair.
Correct FT Score: 1-1 at 10.00 with Bet365.
