Man U vs. West Brom
Venue: Old Trafford
Kick off: 4PM
West Bromwich Albion face being relegated from the Premier League this afternoon if they lose to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Jose Mourinho’s side are fresh off denying rivals Manchester City a title coronation and will be in no mood for charity as they aim to consolidate second place in the table.
They may not win the war but their comeback victory at the battle of the Etihad Stadium last weekend ensured that the Red Devils would not suffer the humiliation of conceding the championship to City, delaying the inevitable roar of triumph from their noisy neighbours for at least a couple of weeks.
United’s second-half performance at Eastlands may have been as good as they have produced under Mourinho’s management, as they came from two goals down to claim a dramatic fifth top-flight win in a row.
That is their best run of the season, and has included three come-from-behind victories.
This form comes too late to challenge City for the title, but United have reconsolidated second place ahead of Liverpool, and will expect to open up a seven-point gap on the Reds by the end of a week in which their visit of West Brom is followed by a trip to Bournemouth.
The bedrock to the Old Trafford fortress has been United’s defensive solidity, which is little surprise considering Mourinho’s managerial principles.
They have kept a league-high 16 league sheets, 11 of which have been at home, and have not conceded a single goal when hosting a team currently in the bottom half of the table.
In total, the Baggies are winless in their last 15 Premier League away games, losing 11 and drawing four, although all of their seven away league points have come against teams that began the day in the top half of the table.
Man United possible XI: De Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Smalling, Young, Matic, Pogba, Sanchez, Lingard, Mata, Lukaku.
West Brom possible XI: Foster, Nyom, Dawson, Hegazi, Gibbs, McClean, Brunt, Livermore, Krychowiak, Rodriguez, Rondon.