Exclusive: Kevin Phillips predicts winner in West Brom v Brighton
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 West Brom will beat Brighton at The Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon as the Albion aim to go unbeaten for a third successive Premier League.
West Brom have not gone that long without a defeat in the top-flight this term so all eyes will be on Sam Allardyce and whether he can deliver the club’s third Premier League victory and potentially move them closer to safety.
Graham Potter’s Brighton are without a win in their last four matches in all competitions and were beaten 2-1 by rivals Crystal Palace on Monday night despite dominating the game.
Phillips believes that despite Brighton’s strengths, West Brom can beat them.
“Brighton are a good side. I know the lost to Palace but they genuinely battered them,” Phillips told West Brom News.
“I’m going to go with the Baggies, obviously. I’m going to give them a 2-1 win.”
Brighton have never won a league match at The Hawthorns despite 10 attempts but the south coast side have only lost twice in their last eight matches against the Albion in all competitions.
Earlier this season, West Brom and Brighton played out a 1-1 draw at the AMEX with Karlan Grant scoring late on to cancel out an own goal by Jake Livermore in the first half.
Based on how Allardyce has set up his team in recent weeks, neither of those are expected to start this weekend with the Baggies unlikely to line up too differently from their 0-0 draw at Burnley last week.
Semi Ajayi is suspended so he’s probably going to be replaced by Dara O’Shea, who helped the Baggies keep a clean sheet despite playing an hour with 10 men.
Brighton’s defeat to Palace on Monday was a hammer blow for them and while it remains to be seen how they’ll react, we hope they are still very much down in the dumps about losing to their rivals.
In other West Brom news, Kamil Grosicki’s confirmed a major update on his future at the Albion.
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