Kealan Hughes

Mon 12 April 2021 15:05, UK

This is part of a regular series from our panel of Super Fans on upcoming West Brom games. Ahead of our home clash with Southampton we spoke to Saints Super Fan James Beavis, Editor of Football FanCast, who can be found on Twitter @BamesJeavis.

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West Brom host Southampton this evening and will be aiming to complete back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

The squad should be brimming with confidence after the 5-2 demolition of Chelsea last week.

However, Southampton were back to their best last week too and overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat Burnley 3-2 last time out.

There could be plenty of goals, and Sam Allardyce will be determined to make sure we show better control of the game than we did in the 2-0 loss at St.Mary’s.

We managed to stop Danny Ings scoring on that occasion and that will be key to success at The Hawthorns.

Saints are a side high in confidence according to Super Fan James Beavis, however, and he thinks his side will take all three points back to the south coast.

What’s the latest Southampton team news? Any injuries of note?

For the first time in a while Hasenhuttl pretty much has a fully fit squad to choose from in terms of senior players, aside from Oriol Romeu.

Hasenhuttl did say in his pre-match press conference that Kyle Walker-Peters had a leg issue, although he has been pictured in training since.

Despite the lack of injuries, it remains to be seen whether the Austrian may choose to rest the likes of Ryan Bertrand, Walker-Peters and Danny Ings ahead of the FA Cup semi-final at the weekend, which surely has to be a priority.

Where can Southampton hurt West Brom?

Southampton are definitely at their strongest from an attacking point of view when opponents attack them, and that will surely be the case on Monday in what is a must-win game for the Baggies.

The likes of Ings, Nathan Redmond and Stuart Armstrong can be devastating on the counter-attack, and generally between the lines.

Of course, there is also the threat from set-pieces from James Ward-Prowse. Beware West Brom defence – don’t give any free-kicks away within 25 yards of the goal, and watch Jannik Vestergaard closely at corners!

Where do you see West Brom’s big strengths and weaknesses?

I think one of West Brom’s biggest strengths ahead of this clash is the confidence they will have flowing through their veins following their brilliant 5-2 win at Chelsea.

They should come flying out the blocks here and have nothing to lose, and I think it was the first time at Stamford Bridge that we really saw their attacking play click into place.

Southampton will need to be aware of that, but as I mentioned before that must-win approach could play perfectly into Southampton’s hands on Monday evening.

If you could have one West Brom player in your team who would it be?

Matheus Pereira, 100%.

Southampton may have some quality players on paper in attacking areas, but there have been many occasions in recent months when they have lacked that spark and a player that can create some magic out of nothing in the final third.

Step forward Pereira, who showed his magic again against Chelsea – he’s been West Brom’s star of the season.

If I was Hasenhuttl, he’d be a prime target this summer when West Brom go down.

Score prediction?

I am slightly concerned that Southampton players will have one eye on the semi-final given they have 36 points on the board and Fulham lost again.

That said, we come into the game high in confidence following the comeback win against Burnley, and we have the players who can hurt the worst defence in the division.

I think there will be goals: West Brom 1-2 Southampton.

Do you think Big Sam would have had a better shot at keeping Albion up if he arrived sooner? Would you back him to get us back up next year?

He certainly would have had a better chance of keeping them up if he was appointed earlier, however I also think he took too long to adapt to the squad he inherited given his experience.

It took far too long for him to get West Brom in good shape (including having a transfer window), and they still look suspect defensively.

Beavis is a big fan of Pereira and if the Brazilian is on top form he could pose Southampton all kinds of problems.

Ralph Hassenhuttl’s side have conceded nine goals in three league games and if we display the kind of football we played at Stamford Bridge we could win again.

The team looks a tight-knit unit under Big Sam and the players know their roles well.

Albion may have conceded the most goals in the division but that is a false stat, as we are now a much different outfit, particularly at the back.

We should be able to frustrate the likes of Danny Ings and James Ward-Prowse and hopefully put on another show to make the fans proud.

In other West Brom news, Michael Owen predicts winner in West Brom v Soton, raves about ‘Exceptional’ player.

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