The Baggies travel down the M5 to take on Bristol City at Ashton Gate in a six pointer as the fight for the Championship Play-offs continues.
Last time out was a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland at The Hawthorns that has blown us out of the play-off places but a win over Bristol City on Tuesday would put the Baggies back to 6th place for the time being as Coventry would face Portsmouth on Wednesday evening.
Bristol City are 6th in the Championship and they beat Watford on Saturday 2-1 at Ashton Gate and if Bristol continue their winning form here then the Baggies would be 5 points behind with 5 games remaining. However, we did beat Bristol City in December 2-0 at The Hawthorns with Mikey Johnston getting a brace, lets see what would happen here on Tuesday night.
Player To Watch – Bristol City
Jason Knight would be my player to watch for Bristol City for this encounter due to his relentless work ethic, leadership qualities and consistent performances throughout the pitch. Since joining from Derby in 2023, he has established himself as a central figure in the team, earning the captain role due to his influence both on and off the field.
Known for his tireless energy, he plays a crucial role in driving the team forward and maintaining intensity throughout matches. His versatility allows him to contribute in multiple positions, whether as a defensive anchor or pushing higher up the pitch to support attacks. In addition to his defensive duties, Knight has been working on improving his offensive output, aiming to increase his goals and assists as part of his broader ambition to help his Bristol City side into the promotion play offs.
Player To Watch – West Brom
Tom Fellows is the player to watch for this crucial game against Bristol City due to his consistent performances and contributions throughout this season. Fellows has made 28 apps throughout this season and has the joint most assists in the Championship with 11 assists. He has ability to create goalscoring opportunities and is evidenced by his average of 1.08 key passes throughout 90 minutes, placing him amongst the top performances in this metric.
Given his dynamic playing style and ability to influence the game through both goals and assists, Tom Fellows is poised to be a key figure in West Brom’s efforts against Bristol City.
My Line Up V Bristol City
My line up is Josh Griffiths would need to go in goal after Joe Wildsmith’s mistakes in recent games, I keep the same four as last game and change the midfield to play Diakite and Molumby and have Tom Fellows and Mikey Johnston on the attacking wings and play two up front with Adam Armstrong and Daryl Dike.
Prediction V Bristol City
Away trip to Bristol City who are our play-off rivals, 6th take on 8th but a win here does help us move back into those positions and our record over our opposition isn’t bad as we did have a memorable game in 2020 that finished 3-0 to the Baggies, plus last time out we did draw 0-0 and have had great results at The Hawthorns over the last recent years.
Lets get down to the predictions for this crucial Championship fixture, I say Bristol City would start attacking from the start and try and know that a win for them would stretch their gap between them and us to 5 points. Nakhi Wells would try and and get a opener past Bartley but would hit the post and go out for a goal kick.
It be 0-0 throughout the first half and in the 36th minute, West Brom would get a first corner and Fellows corner would give Heggem an opportunity but would go over the bar. Near half time, Adam Armstrong would try an get one where the Bristol City keeper would make a great save to keep the scores level at the break.
Second half, I think a few changes would be made with Daryl Dike coming off for Karlan Grant, eventually Diakite for Alex Mowatt would come on. The scores would stay level still till the 70th minute before this both sides had a number of opportunities and most of them have not hit the target. In the 73rd minute, the Baggies would have a free kick near the box after Karlan Grant was taken down by one of the Bristol defenders and Alex Mowatt would take the free-kick that would go left footed into the back of the net to give us the lead with 17 minutes left to play.
Near the end Bristol City would try and frustrate us and try and find the equaliser that is needed to keep them in the play offs but with our defence that would stop the Bristol attack at the end, the Baggies would eventually come away with a 1-0 win at Bristol City and would put them back into the play-off positions thanks to a Alex Mowatt free kick.
Prediction: Bristol City 0-1 West Brom
Goalscorer for West Brom: Alex Mowatt
It be a frustrating game where nothing would really happen, it would be till the 73rd minute when Alex Mowatt’s free kick would find the net. I do think a lot of people would take this result right now and a 1-0 win away at Play-Off hopefuls Bristol City would be a great result and this would put us into the top six before our other game over Watford on Saturday.