Tony Pulis is walking a bit of a tightrope at the moment, with a promising start to the Premier League season rapidly descending into a dreadful run of form. They won their opening two league games, but have followed that with a nine match winless streak to see them plummet to 16th in the Premier League table.
Before the international break they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Huddersfield to make it three defeats on the bounce. They are more difficult to beat on home soil, but they have still managed just a single win from five games at The Hawthorns and lost their last game there against Manchester City.
In all honesty, that was their only real test this season. Their other home games have come against Bournemouth, Stoke, West Ham, and Watford, so it’s clear that they struggle against the top teams even on home soil.
Chelsea are certainly one of the top teams, even if their campaign has floundered a bit this year. They had a roller-coaster of a week leading up to the international break, first losing 3-0 at Roma to put a big dampener on their Champions League campaign but following that with a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the league.
Antonio Conte’s men have now won four of their last five in all competitions, and find themselves 4th in the table and only a point behind 2nd placed Manchester United. They are already nine points off Manchester City though, so retaining their crown could turn out to be very difficult.
Chelsea have actually performed better away from home than at Stamford Bridge this season, which is completely at odds to their performances last season. They have won four of their five trips away in the league, including victories at Leicester and Spurs. Only one of these matches has seen more than three goals scored though, so backing a Chelsea Win and Under 3.5 Goals looks a great choice of bets.
West Brom are likely to start off very tight at the back, as they have done often this season. In fact, six of their 11 league games have been level at the break this season, as have six of Chelsea’s league matches. This makes a Draw/Chelsea HT/FT Result look a good choice along with a 2-1 correct score predictions.
We’re also backing Alvaro Morata to find the net for our anytime goalscorer predictions. The Spanish striker has scored seven goals in his first ten Premier League appearances, and four of these have come away from home. He looks by far the most dangerous man in a Chelsea shirt, so we’re going for him.
Team News
Pulis is expected to make a number of changes to his starting lineup, with Matt Phillips, James McClean and Salomon Rondon in contention for a recall.
A decision must also be made on the formation, with Pulis potentially reverting back to a 4-5-1 rather than using three at the back like at Huddersfield.
Jake Livermore should keep his place in the team, despite playing all but four minutes of England's games with Germany and Brazil.
Conte could select the same XI which impressed against United, with the likes of Antonio Rudiger and Willian being saved for the Champions League game in Azerbaijan.
Victor Moses is unlikely to feature due to a hamstring injury, while Luiz is expected to have to settle for a place among the replacements after his falling out with his manager.
Gary Cahill should be fit to play despite missing out against Brazil in midweek after declaring himself available for selection.
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Foster; Nyom, Evans, Hegazi, Gibbs; Barry, Livermore, Krychowiak; Phillips, Rodriguez, Rondon
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Cahill; Zappacosta, Kante, Bakayoko, Alonso; Fabregas, Hazard, Morata
Head To Head
Saturday's match will represent the 138th time in which these two teams have squared off in a competitive fixture, with Chelsea winning 60 times in comparison to 42 successes for the Baggies.
Chelsea have won four of the last half-a-dozen meetings, although the biggest margin of victory has been 2-0, and West Brom have previously enjoyed success against the West Londoners at The Hawthorns.
Since 2012, the Baggies have claimed three wins and a draw, with Chelsea only ever prevailing by a one-goal margin.
West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Chelsea
Chelsea have already slipped up to one struggling side this season with Crystal Palace running out winners at the start of October, but we are backing the Blues to battle their way to three precious points at the ground where they won the Premier League title last season.
West Brom vs Chelsea Stats
West Bromwich Albion have lost 16 games against Chelsea in the Premier League, their joint-highest total against an opponent alongside Arsenal and Manchester City.
After failing to win in four visits to the Hawthorns between 2012-2015 (W0 D1 L3), Chelsea have since won back to back games there, including last May when Michy Batshuayi scored to seal the title in a 1-0 victory.
Conte has the best win percentage of any permanent Chelsea manager in league history (75.5%).
Chelsea have won nine of their last 11 away games in the Premier League, losing 0-2 at Old Trafford in April and 1-2 Selhurst Park in October.
West Bromwich Albion have lost all 11 of their previous Premier League home matches against reigning champions, with an aggregate score of 8-28.
Alvaro Morata has been directly involved in 10 goals in his first 10 Premier League games for Chelsea (seven goals, three assists) – only Diego Costa (11) had more goal involvements in his first 10 for the club.
