The final day of the regular league season and the Baggies still have work to do by clinching a play off place as they take on Preston North End in what could be a dramatic final day at The Hawthorns.
It was a bad day at Sheffield on Saturday as we lost 3-0 to Sheffield Wednesday that now leaves us with 3 consecutive defeats in the Championship and must provide a result to Preston North End if we stand a chance in clinching a play-off place on Saturday.
Preston North End are also on a bad patch of form where they lost 4 games in a row and also haven’t scored in any of them. They played Leicester City on Monday night where they also lost 3-0 that claimed Leicester the Championship title. Preston sit 10th in the Championship and did have a good start to the season where they was top at some point and was on a unbeaten run before we beat them 4-0 at their ground in September.
Now, it comes to the final day I am not confident about this fixture where we could miss out on the play-offs that would be a disaster for us but a win or a draw at The Hawthorns would clinch it for us. With us only losing 4 games at home this season we still have a good home record compared to our away record if the Baggies can maintain this we could come away with all three points. Here I am unsure what the result would be on Saturday? Lets hope there be no heartbreak come full-time.
Player To Watch – Preston North End
Liam Lindsay for Preston is going to be my player to watch for on the final fixture of the season, he has scored a few last gasp goals for them this season even the goal against Blackburn will be in the memory of the Preston fans for some time.
Lindsay has put in some consistent performances at the heart of defense for Preston this season and has started in all 45 Championship games this season and could keep our attackers quiet for us on Saturday.
If he plays at his best against us, it could lead to a disaster if he helps his side get a clean sheet and they could scrap a 1-0 win but I’m not been harsh about this fixture but I think Lindsay has the ability to keep us quiet.
Player To Watch – West Brom
Brandon Thomas-Asante will be my player to watch on Saturday, as the fans don’t seem to rate him at the minute he is what keeps The Hawthorns going with most of his goals have come at home this season especially the hat trick he got against Blackburn.
He could be a key player if he starts despite his red card against Sunderland I hope he has learnt from that and can pay his mistakes in ensuring we can still get a place in the play offs come Saturday afternoon, I expect him to cause the Preston defense problems and wouldn’t be surprised if he can get a goal. He is our top goal scorer this season with 10 goals in 34 games and he normally plays as a lone striker and it could help if he has a striking partner with him as I would start him with Josh Maja for this game.
Race For Play Offs
The race for the play offs has come down to the final day. It is now between us and Hull City to secure the final place for the play offs. Norwich have not mathematically qualified yet, but look certain to finish 5th or 6th based on their goal difference.
What we need to secure a play off place is:
Win: (Baggies finish in play-offs)
Draw: (Baggies finish in play offs) but Hull would have to win 11-0 to Plymouth for us to drop out and Norwich win or draw against Birmingham.
Lose: If Hull don’t win against Plymouth – Out If Hull beat Plymouth
It looks nervy but a win or a draw to Preston will secure a place even if we lose we could be there but depends if Hull don’t win their game against Plymouth.
My Line Up V Preston North End
I will make changes to this line-up for our upcoming and last game of the regular season to Preston. I will start Semi Ajayi over Kyle Bartley as he needs to start and is a better option than Bartley. I will also play Pipa as I think Conor Townsend has not been at his best recently, Alex Mowatt should start with Okay Yokuslu and Tom Fellows deserves a start as he is been in great form this season and should be starting in place of Matt Phillips. I will also play 2 strikers up front with Brandon Thomas-Asante and Josh Maja starting together and can see strike a great partnership and should get some goals.
Predictions
It comes to the hard bit, predictions for the final game of the season, if we do make play-offs I will still be previewing the semi finals and also the final at Wembley if we make it. I also be previewing England’s Euro 2024 campaign here on Baggies Talk over the tournament and would be doing a section on what our players be over there in Germany.
I expect this game to Preston to be one of the intense games as it’s now the end of the season and it’s still us of all teams still chasing a play off place that should of happened weeks ago. With 3 defeats on the bounce we must get a result here to get us over the line.
What I expect I think we will start strong but it will be goalless at half time as the Baggies would be close and I don’t think Preston will get off from the start and won’t expect nothing from them. Second half we will make changes with Maja coming on I think and could grab a penalty half way through with Josh Maja scoring to make it 1-0 and I think Preston will score late with Will Keane the ex Hull City player getting on the scoresheet and they will continue to break us with us knowing Hull are beating Plymouth it will be intense. The referee will eventually blow the whistle with us confirming a play off place it be like the QPR game 4 years ago where we drew 2-2 to get promoted to The Premier League, in this game I say we draw 1-1 that would not be a great result despite our form coming into the Play-Offs but I would take it right now if offered.
So a 1-1 draw I’m going for what do you think? comment below your predictions for Saturday. Come on you Baggies!
Prediction: West Brom 1-1 Preston
Goal Scorer for West Brom: Josh Maja
Goal Scorer for Preston: Will Keane