Michael Owen predicts winner of West Brom FA Cup clash v West Ham
Former England striker Michael Owen has predicted that West Brom will be knocked out of the FA Cup on Saturday by West Ham.
Slaven Bilic is set to return to the London Stadium for the first time after being sacked by the Hammers in November 2017.
During his spell in charge of West Ham, Bilic led the Hammers to the Europa League after an impressive final season for the club at Upton Park.
It all started to go downhill for Bilic after the move to the London Stadium, which is where he will take his West Brom side this weekend.
Neither side is in particularly good form with West Brom winning just one of their last seven fixtures while West Ham have failed to win in their last three outings.
Owen expects the Premier League club to prevail on this occasion though, tipping the Hammers to reach the FA Cup fifth round at the expense of the Baggies.
“Albion are still top the Championship table, but they face a massive league game at Cardiff on Tuesday,” said Owen on the BetVictor website.
“West Ham were well-beaten at Leicester in the Premier League midweek but, irrespective of the result, I expect them to make it through to the next round in a tight, close game.”
West Brom and West Ham are unlikely to be prioritising the FA Cup this season.
David Moyes’ side are in a relegation battle in the Premier League while all the Baggies want this season is to win promotion from the Championship.
Neither side is likely to play a full-strength team so this could be a battle of who has the strongest second-string.
In other West Brom news, this defender is set to sign a new contract.