View: West Brom in desperate need of Prutton prediction to come true v Swansea
The 1-0 defeat against Wigan Athletic made the rest of the Championship raise an eyebrow at West Brom with only 10 games left to play.
Now isn’t the time to be slipping up, especially at home to a team battling relegation – just ask Leeds United from last season.
That defeat meant that the Whites moved within a point of the Baggies, and Fulham could go three points behind with a win over Bristol City in the lunchtime kick-off on Saturday.
Sky Sports pundit David Prutton has predicted that the Baggies will return to winning ways on Saturday at the Liberty Stadium against Swansea.
“Swansea are one of a bunch of sides that will still fancy their chances of reaching the playoffs, but they need to get a consistent run of form going to do that, and they have won just once in eight,” he wrote.
“West Brom suffered a shock defeat at home to Wigan at a time where they looked to be running away with it, and another defeat would be a huge blow. I can’t see them slipping up again, though. Away win.”
Should West Brom lose once again and both Leeds and Fulham get maximum points, it could start to create a nervous atmosphere around the Hawthorns, and the Baggies must be desperate for Prutton’s prediction to come true.
Prediction expert Nate Silver recently changed his view on the Championship on his website FiveThirtyEight. West Brom have been clear favourites for promotion this season, but this week, the tables have turned in Leeds’ favour.
Silver predicts that Marcelo Bielsa’s side now stands a 97% chance of promotion compared to West Brom’s 89%. On top of that, Bilic’s men only have a 33% chance of lifting the title – time will tell.
Another defeat at Swansea could see that fall even lower, but a win would be perfect and would start the run-in to the end of the season perfectly.
In other West Brom news, Adrian Chiles backs Baggies fan favourite to earn a spot on the plane to EURO 2020 in the summer