The Baggies are back at The Hawthorns for another Friday night showdown that awaits Coventry City for a West Midlands Derby where the race for the play-offs continues.
The Baggies come into this game with 4 points out of 6 in our last 2 away games where we won 3-0 at Plymouth Argyle last Tuesday and drew 1-1 at Hull City Saturday lunchtime. West Brom won the reserve fixture 2-0 at the Coventry Building Society Arena in late October with goals from Grady Diangana and Brandon Thomas Asante.
Coventry City are also 4 points adrift from the top six and sit in 9th place in the Sky Bet Championship. They are also through to the Quarter Final stage of The FA Cup after beating non league side Maidstone United 5-0 on Monday night and come into this fixture confident as they are also pushing for a place in the play-offs.
This game will be another tough game for us as no game is easy in the Sky Bet Championship at this stage of the season.
Players To Watch – Coventry City
Ellis Simms on Friday night will be my player to watch for Coventry City, it was between him or Callum O’Hare. I am having to go for Ellis Simms prior to his hat trick against Maidstone in the cup on Monday he has now scored 5 goals in 4 games, with goals against Plymouth and Stoke City I say our defence should keep eyes on Ellis Simms in this tie as he knows how to finish and might give us a scare or two at The Hawthorns.
I am sure Alex Palmer, Cedric Kipre and Erik Pieters can sort Ellis Simms out with us being 3rd best in league with conceding the less goals with only Leicester and Leeds above us in the standings.
I still feel that Ellis Simms could give us a few problems in attack for the Sky Blues come Friday evening.
Players To Watch – West Brom
The Player to watch for the Baggies against Coventry City would be Cedric Kipre. I say he is player of the season at the heart of defence with his strong ability of clearing the ball and stopping attacking threats from the opposition.
With fans not rating Cedric Kipre for the first few seasons he joined us he has proved doubters wrong and was one of the best players for Cardiff City last season whilst on loan. Since his come back to our side to replace Dara O’Shea we have conceded less goals (32 goals) in 34 games where last season we conceded 54 goals in 46 games.
To me I feel Cedric Kipre is a new signing for the Baggies this season whilst he joined us in 2020 he has definitely improved in his game and will be a key player for us against Coventry City and for the rest of the season. Let’s hope he gets a new contract as he deserves to play for us in the long run.
My Line Up V Coventry City
My Line-up against Coventry City looks different than it did against Hull when I predicted, I start Erik Pieters alongside Cedric Kipre after his performance against the Tigers. Alex Mowatt and Okay Yoksulu will stay in midfield for me where Mikey Johnston and Tom Fellows should start in the wing with John Swift in attacking midfield.
With no strikers in our team with Daryl Dike out with a long-term injury and Brandon Thomas Asante also out I have gone with Grady Diangana to start up front where Jed Wallace to be rested on the bench.
I will make Conor Townsend captain in this encounter against Coventry in my predicted line-up.
Predictions
It will be difficult like I said before the Plymouth game we would draw 1-1, but this game against Coventry will be another tough test for us. We have not won on the road on a Saturday since Preston North End in September and we have played 5 away games since then on the same day resulting in 0 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats in a row before drawing 2-2 to Ipswich a fortnight ago.
I think it be another tough game the Baggies despite us losing to Southampton at home a fortnight ago and gaining 4 away points out of 6 against Plymouth and Hull City. With us only losing 3 home games this season, I say it will be a very scrappy game between us and Coventry City.
I said we draw against Plymouth and Hull City but in this one we will come out of this with a 1-0 win, I say we score late and it be like the game against Birmingham last month. Goalscorer I go for Conor Townsend to score from a free kick in the last few minutes of the game to seal the three points for the Baggies.
Prediction: West Brom 1-0 Coventry City
Goalscorer for West Brom: Conor Townsend
If it happens and we win it 1-0 I will take it as it puts pressure on the teams below us as we are only 5 points ahead of them in the league it be nice to be 8 points above them after 10’o clock on Friday night.
Let’s see what happens at The Hawthorns and hope it be a great Friday evening and make us forget what happened against Southampton a couple of weeks ago. Come on you Baggies.