West Brom vs. Aston Villa
Venue: The Hawthorns
Kick off: 8:15PM
West Bromwich Albion face Aston Villa this evening as Sam Allardyce takes charge of his first game with the Baggies.
While the home side sit three points adrift of safety, Villa head into the West Midlands derby in 11th position after a goalless draw against Burnley earlier this week.
When West Brom recorded a 1-1 draw at Manchester City last week, the majority of the club’s supporters would have been hopeful that the result represented a change of fortunes for Slaven Bilic’s side.
However, less than an hour after the share of the spoils at the Etihad Stadium, it was widely reported that Bilic was on the verge of the sack, a development which was confirmed the following day.
The decision to part ways with Bilic has divided opinion at The Hawthorns, a process not helped by the appointment of a manager in Sam Allardyce who has previously revealed that he is a follower of rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Nevertheless, the veteran boss has been trusted with the task of trying to keep West Brom in the Premier League after a return of just seven points from 13 matches.
Allardyce has relished such a scenario in the past, but an opening triple-header with Villa, Liverpool and Leeds United means that his players must deliver if he is to win over the section of fans which have not welcomed his arrival.
From Villa’s perspective, Dean Smith will view this contest as the perfect game to get rid of the disappointment which followed the stalemate with Burnley.
Despite dominating the contest against their North-West opponents, failing to breach a resolute defence has left the club in 11th spot in the standings.
Although they have two games in hand on many of the teams above them, Smith’s side have now gone four fixtures without recording a win on familiar territory.
Smith will expect West Brom to rise to the occasion of their first top-flight derby for several years, but there will be a belief that his usually-efficient attack will make amends in the final third should they be presented with opportunities tonight.
West Brom possible XI: Johnstone, Furlong, O’Shea, Ajayi, Gibbs, Phillips, Gallagher, Sawyers, Livermore, Diangana, Grant.
Aston Villa possible XI: Martinez, Cash, Hause, Mings, Targett, Luiz, McGinn, El Ghazi, Barkley, Grealish, Watkins.
