‘Their challenge is…’ – Mark Lawrenson predicts West Brom clash v Everton
Mark Lawrenson has backed West Brom to fall to another defeat when they travel to face Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.
The BBC pundit has predicted that the Baggies will lose 2-0 in Merseyside after Carlo Ancelotti’s side impressed in their season opener against Spurs last week.
Slaven Bilic will be looking for a big response from his side after they were easily swept aside 3-0 at home against Leicester City.
Lawrenson acknowledged that West Brom need to start winning games, but claimed that it wouldn’t start this weekend.
“I was impressed by Everton in their win at Tottenham last week. They worked hard and they were the better team – they got a really good result and they fully deserved it,” he wrote in his BBC column.
“West Brom, on the other hand, got turned over at home by Leicester – and everyone is expecting them to struggle after they came up from the Championship.
“But the Baggies already knew that they are likely to be fighting relegation, and their challenge is going to be to win enough games to beat the drop. I don’t think this will be one of them, though.”
West Brom struggled to retain possession against the Foxes, and that resulted in limited chances in the final third.
The Baggies only kept 35.8% of the ball, and that saw them have seven shots on goal – none of those clear-cut chances according to WhoScored.
Everton, on the other hand, were ruthless and dominated Spurs at their own ground. The Toffees had 15 shots on goal and created numerous dangerous opportunities.
Should the game on Saturday follow a similar pattern, it could be a long, long afternoon for Bilic’s men on the road.
In other West Brom news, Bilic confirms Baggies injury blow after win v Harrogate
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