Paul Merson expects Chelsea to beat West Brom when the sides play on Saturday
Paul Merson claims Chelsea will be too much for West Brom on Saturday and predicts Albion to lose yet another match.
The Sky Sports pundit told Soccer Saturday last month [06/03] that Albion were down if they failed to beat Newcastle, so his pessimism is not a surprise.
Chelsea have been in fine form, winning six out of ten league games under Thoms Tuchel, who was named as March’s Premier League manager of the month.
Commenting on the contest, Merson told Sky Sports, “I expect Chelsea to win at lunchtime on Saturday when they play West Brom at Stamford Bridge.”
Daunting task
Chelsea have an incredible record under Tuchel and it will be miraculous if we score, let alone pick up and kind of result.
Allardyce’s words pre-match have been reassuring, however, as he has a clear plan in place to counter Chelsea’s threat.
He told talkSPORT’s GameDay Live [02/04] that he is wary of the Chelsea press so will instruct his players to move the ball forward quickly.
Whether that is a nicer way of saying we will play direct, or dare I say, hoofball, remains to be seen.
Getting the ball up to Mbaye Diagne to try and unsettle the Chelsea backline is probably our best chance of scoring.
It reduces the chances of making a mistake at the back and will limit the influence of their midfield – notably N’Golo Kante, if he is fit enough to play.
Nobody is expecting a result from the match and that should at least give the Albion players some freedom.
All the pressure is on Chelsea and that could work in our favour in achieving an unlikely result.
In other West Brom news, Wolves are expected to be interested in a current Albion loanee in the summer.
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