Exclusive: Kevin Phillips predicts result of West Brom v Aston Villa
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Kevin Phillips predicts Sam Allardyce’s first game in charge of West Brom will end all-square against Aston Villa at The Hawthorns on Sunday night.
Albion have managed to avoid defeat with their most recent change of permanent managers in the middle of seasons.
Alan Pardew, Tony Pulis, Pepe Mel, Roy Hodgson and Tony Mowbray all managed to either win or draw their first matches in charge of the Baggies when called in to rescue the club’s season.
And Phillips believes that trend will continue when Albion welcome fierce West Midlands rivals Aston Villa to The Hawthorns this weekend.
“It will be a very, very tight game,” Phillips told West Brom News.
“Sam will set the team up to be very hard to break down, just like they were at City. I don’t see any difference there.
“He might just tweak it a little bit but I think it will be tight.
“Villa are full of confidence. As for a score prediction, I’m going to go 1-1. In Sam’s first game he’ll get a draw.”
Aston Villa are a lot better now than they were when Albion faced them in the Championship play-off semi-finals in 2019.
However, the Baggies are also a lot better now and have a manager in charge who has an abundance of Premier League experience.
He’s also a local with the Dudley-born manager revealing in his first press conference on Thursday that he used to visit The Hawthorns to watch Jeff Astle and Tony Brown in his youth.
Whether that will help or not remains to be seen but West Brom impressed against Manchester City on Tuesday and have shown, at times, they are able to put in solid defensive shifts when required.
Aston Villa’s attack is a formidable one with Jack Grealish pulling the strings and Ollie Watkins getting among the goals.
Keep those two quiet and Albion could secure a shock result this weekend.
In other West Brom news, Jonathan Greening has blasted the club for sacking Bilic and has made a claim about Tony Pulis.
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