Mark Lawrenson predicts West Brom clash v Newcastle in FA Cup
Mark Lawrenson has predicted that Newcastle United will knock West Brom out of the FA Cup at The Hawthorns on Tuesday night.
Albion have already faced Premier League opposition in the FA Cup this season after Conor Townsend’s goal led to a 1-0 win away against West Ham in the last round.
Slaven Bilic’s side face a top-flight side yet again this week when they welcome Steve Bruce’s Newcastle to the Black Country and despite their poor form, Lawrenson has tipped the Magpies to win 1-0.
“West Brom are still top of the Championship despite losing at home to struggling Wigan on Saturday,” Lawrenson said on the BBC Sport website.
“Newcastle picked up a Premier League point against Burnley, despite again failing to score – they have now gone four league games without finding the net, since a 2-2 draw against Everton on 21 January.
“At least they are still scoring in the FA Cup, but they have needed replays to get past Rochdale and Oxford United so far and this time they will have to get the job done first time around.
“Can they do it? Yes. I think the Baggies will field a weakened team for this tie, which will obviously help the Magpies – but I am not exactly expecting a Newcastle goal glut.”
West Brom are definitely likely to line-up differently to how they did against Wigan on Saturday when they lost 1-0.
Callum Robinson and Kamil Grosicki are cup-tied for starters while there are plenty of players who haven’t featured in a while for the Baggies.
It will be interesting to see which players keep their spots in the starting line-up but it’s unlikely to be many with promotion from the Championship being Bilic’s main goal.
In other West Brom news, Bilic has confirmed that this player will return from injury against Newcastle.