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Jan 31, 2018 at 8pm UK
 
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Preview: Manchester City vs. West Bromwich Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: Manchester City vs. West Bromwich Albion - prediction, team news, lineups: ID:317434: from db_amp
Sports Mole provides predicted lineups, team news and a full match preview of Manchester City's Premier League clash with West Bromwich Albion.

Champions-elect Manchester City will look to continue their march towards the Premier League crown when they host struggling West Bromwich Albion at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.

Pep Guardiola's side enjoy a 12-point lead at the top of the table, whereas the Baggies sit joint-bottom and three points from safety at the other end of the pile.


Man City

Manchester City's hopes of invincibility may be over, but their quadruple dreams are very much still alive and have only grown stronger since they last played in the Premier League.

Victory over Bristol City last Tuesday sealed a place in next month's EFL Cup final - where they will face Arsenal at Wembley - before Guardiola's side dispatched more Championship opposition in the shape of Cardiff City to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup at the weekend.

Guardiola once again insisted that winning four trophies is "impossible" - particularly after seeing Leroy Sane come off worst from Cardiff's rough-house tactics on Sunday - but the Premier League leg of the quadruple is surely all but sewn up already.

City have dropped only seven points in the top flight all season and crucially prevented a prolonged wobble by returning to winning ways against Newcastle United immediately after their first domestic defeat of the season at the hands of Liverpool.

The Citizens have now won a staggering 37 of their last 41 matches across all competitions, and their FA Cup win over Cardiff also saw them keep their first clean sheet in seven attempts.

Guardiola can realistically expect another against one of the Premier League's lowest-scoring teams on Wednesday night, although City have not prevented the opposition from scoring in any of their four home matches since before Christmas.

Fortunately for the league leaders, their attack is good enough to outscore almost every other team and City have now won their last 17 matches at the Etihad Stadium across all competitions, stretching all the way back to August.

Indeed, you have to go back to December 2016 - 33 matches ago - for City's last defeat on home soil in any competition, with 26 of those outings ending in victory for Guardiola's side.

Unsurprisingly, City have the best home record in the Premier League this season, having dropped only two points in front of their own fans while also scoring a league-high 42 goals - 11 more than the next highest scorers at home.

The club-record addition of Aymeric Laporte will only strengthen City's options too, and it would be a major surprise if they were to pick up anything other than a convincing win in this match.

Recent Premier League form: WWDWLW
Recent form (all competitions): WWLWWW


West Brom

It has been a miserable season for West Brom on the whole, but 2018 has begun in a way which suggests that the upcoming year will be significantly better than the one which preceded it.

West Brom's opening game of the new year saw their club-record winless streak stretch to 21 games, but they finally ended that torrid run by beating League Two side Exeter City in the FA Cup third round.

Since then, the Baggies have won three and lost none of their last four games across all competitions - as many wins as they had managed in their previous 33 outings and their joint-longest unbeaten streak of the season so far.

The most recent of those will give them even more confidence too as they became the first team to beat Liverpool at Anfield this season on Saturday - the same ground where Man City fell to their one and only domestic defeat of the campaign.

The Baggies have struggled for goals in the Premier League this season, but they had no such problems against Liverpool as they scored three times in the first half and had the ball in the back of the net five times throughout the match, only for two of their goals to be correctly disallowed.

VAR stole the headlines from that match on Merseyside but it should not take away from West Brom's performance, and if they can play to a similar level on Wednesday then they could give Man City a good run for their money despite the gulf between the two clubs in the Premier League table.

The Baggies go into the midweek fixtures sitting three points from safety and level with bottom-placed Swansea City, although they do have goal difference in their favour due largely to their tally of only 31 goals conceded - the same number as sixth-placed Arsenal and a tally only Burnley can beat outside the top five.

It is clear, then, that the problems lie at the other end of the pitch, and Alan Pardew will be hoping that the loan signing of Daniel Sturridge from Liverpool will help to address that imbalance.

Pardew will need the striker to hit the ground running with two of his former clubs - Man City and Chelsea - to come in their next three games, but perhaps their most important outing in the next few weeks is sandwiched between them when West Brom host fellow strugglers Southampton on Saturday.

West Brom travel to the Etihad Stadium having won just one of their last 21 Premier League away games and with Stoke City the only team to have amassed fewer points on the road this season, but that victory at Anfield could give them the belief to pull off an upset on Wednesday.

Recent Premier League form: LDDLWD
Recent form (all competitions): DLWWDW


Team News

Sane will miss the next six weeks after damaging ankle ligaments during the weekend win over Cardiff City, which could see Bernardo Silva keep his place in the starting lineup.

New signing Laporte's deal did not go through in time for the Frenchman to make his debut in this match, but City do have captain Vincent Kompany fit and available for selection again.

The likes of Sergio Aguero, Ederson and David Silva could return after being rested against Cardiff at the weekend, with the latter bidding to continue his run of winning 24 successive matches across all competitions - four more than any other player in the history of English football.

West Brom must decide whether to throw Sturridge straight in against his former club or hold him back for Saturday's relegation showdown with Southampton, although a hamstring injury for Hal Robson-Kanu could force Pardew's hand to some extent.

Kieran Gibbs joined Robson-Kanu in coming off early at Anfield and is a doubt for this match alongside Jonny Evans and Jake Livermore, both of whom have been linked with moves away from the club prior to Wednesday night's transfer deadline.

James Morrison and Nacer Chadli are definitely out, but Gareth McAuley and Sam Field are both expected to be available following a bout of illness.

Man City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Danilo; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva; Bernardo, Aguero, Sterling

West Brom possible starting lineup:
Foster; Nyom, Dawson, Hegazi, Brunt; Phillips, Barry, Krychowiak, McClean; Rondon, Rodriguez


Head To Head

Manchester City have dominated this fixture in recent years, winning the last 13 meetings across all competitions and going 16 unbeaten against the Baggies, stretching back to September 2010.

West Brom haven't beaten Man City in the league since 2008, while their most recent win away to the Citizens came at Maine Road in 2003 when they ran out 2-1 winners.

The reverse fixture saw three goals fly in inside the opening 15 minutes as West Brom put up a good fight against Man City in October before falling to a 3-2 defeat at The Hawthorns.


We say: Man City 2-0 West Brom

West Brom do not concede enough goals for this one to become too much of a rout, but everything still points to a comfortable Manchester City victory. The Baggies could be missing some key players through injury and it would take a performance even better than their one at Anfield to come away from this match with anything.



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