View: Why West Brom are in ideal position to add second win v Crystal Palace
West Brom secured their first Premier League win of the season on Saturday in a hard-fought battle against fellow strugglers Sheffield United.
A first-half Conor Gallagher goal was enough to seal the 1-0 victory, but Slaven Bilic’s side were reliant on the Blades missing a number of presentable opportunities.
Goalkeeper Sam Johnstone also played a blinder, but the win was deserved given some of the bad luck that has afflicted the Baggies this season.
Next up for Bilic’s men are Crystal Palace at The Hawthorns next Sunday. Roy Hodgson’s side a renowned for being a tough side to break down, but given West Brom’s struggles this season, they could be an ideal opponent.
Palace have won four times this season in the Premier League, with the opponents having at least 64% possession on each occasion (via WhoScored). Of the sides they have beaten, only Fulham are outside the top 12 in the table, while they lost to Burnley and Newcastle United in their last two fixtures.
Since moving to a three at the back formation, West Brom have been less possession orientated and have given up a midfielder in the hope of adding defensive solidity. Bilic has instead used his wing-backs to generate attack and this very approach could work well against Crystal Palace.
So far this season, just five of Palace’s 12 league goals have come from open play, with Hodgson’s side scoring a lot of their goals from set-pieces. Wilfried Zaha is also an incredibly dangerous weapon on the counter-attack, who will hurt West Brom if they leave too much space in behind.
When Bilic is thinking about how to approach this game, he should look at how Newcastle United and Burnley were able to get joy against them. By forcing Palace to have more of the ball the Baggies can make them less dangerous and throw them off their game plan.
For a side still finding their feet at this level, Sunday represents a great opportunity to bag a second win of the season.
In other West Brom news, plenty of fans agree of the Baggies’ player of the season
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Baggies and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips.