West Brom vs QPR
Venue: The Hawthorns
Kick off: 3pm
Nigerian striker, Brown Ideye, returned from injury as his West Bromwich Albion side battle QPR to boost their chances of Premier League survival at The Hawthorns.
Ideye missed their last match with a minor injury, which kept him out of action with Nigeria last week, but he expects to be ready to play on Saturday (today).
Both Ideye and Saido Berahino have both been vital to West Brom’s upturn in form, with the two strikers responsible for the team’s last six goals.
Ahead of this weekend’s fixtures, QPR are in the relegation zone, but their opponents sit just five places above them in the table, eight points clear of the bottom three.
West Brom have certainly seen their form improve since replacing Alan Irvine with Tony Pulis as their manager earlier this year.
The Baggies have lost just twice in their last seven league outings, including a 3-0 loss to defending champions, Manchester City, last time out.
In the five matches before that loss, Pulis’s side had conceded just two goals and kept four clean sheets, helping them put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone.
West Brom have much preferred playing at home to away this season, as six of their eight wins so far this campaign have been at The Hawthorns, so this fixture should present them with an opportunity to add to their points total.
A win could be enough to move West Brom up to 11th in the table, which would leave them level on points with Pulis’s former club, Crystal Palace.
Just 10 points currently separate eighth-placed Swansea City and 15th-placed Hull City, so a strong finish to the season for West Brom could see them climb into the top half of the table.
West Brom possible starting lineup:
Myhill, McAuley, Wisdom, Olsson, Lescott, Sessegnon, Fletcher, Gardner, Baird, Ideye, Berahino
QPR possible starting lineup:
Green, Isla, Onuoha, Caulker, Ferdinand, Phillips, Barton, Sandro, Vargas, Zamora, Austin.
