West Bromwich Albion vs Southampton Prediction: West Brom looking to maintain place in playoffs

West Bromwich Albion will welcome Southampton at The Hawthorns in Game Week 33 of the English Championship. West Brom will be looking to maintain their place in playoff spots. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?

Throughout this campaign, West Brom has only managed to achieve a maximum of three consecutive wins, which happened only once. Since the beginning of December, they have suffered five defeats in the league. However, Carlos Corberan's team enters this game with a four-point advantage in the quest for a top-six position, thanks to accumulating seven points from their last three matches. Despite the frustration of conceding a lead twice at Ipswich Town on Saturday, West Brom responded with a 2-0 victory over Cardiff City three days later. This win marked their fifth consecutive triumph at The Hawthorns in the Championship, during which they have only conceded one goal, and that too when they were already 3-0 ahead against Blackburn Rovers. Such a solid defensive performance has resulted in West Brom having the third-best defensive record in the division at this point in the season. However, their defensive capabilities will face a difficult challenge against opponents who have the second-best attacking statistics.

Palmer; Furlong, Kipre, Pieters, Townsend; Yokuslu, Mowatt; Wallace, Weimann, Johnston; Thomas-Asante

However, Southampton's unbeaten streak came to an end with a defeat to Bristol City, marking their first loss since September 30. The Saints had gone 25 games without losing in all competitions before Bristol City scored three goals in the second half to secure the victory. Southampton managed to score a late consolation goal from a penalty, but it was not enough to salvage a win. This defeat comes after a thrilling 5-3 match against Huddersfield Town, where Southampton conceded three goals for the first time since September 15. In their last two matches, Southampton has shipped a total of six goals, which is the same amount they had conceded in their previous 13 games. Now sitting in third place, two points behind the automatic promotion spots, manager Russell Martin understands that his players must respond strongly to avoid falling further behind Leeds United in their pursuit of second place.

Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Manning; Smallbone, Rothwell, S. Armstrong; A. Armstrong, Mara, Fraser

After witnessing Southampton's vulnerabilities during Tuesday night's match, West Brom will believe they can deliver another defeat to the Saints. Nonetheless, despite Southampton having to travel once again, we predict an engaging draw at The Hawthorns.