After 15 days away with an international break that is now finally over for another 5 weeks it is time that The Baggies are back in action with a game down the South Coast as we have to wait till Sunday to finally play a game where we travel to Fratton Park.
The Baggies have made a great start to the Championship season after winning 3 of their first 4 league games and now take on newly promoted side Portsmouth on Sunday in where this is the first meeting for 15 years.
Portsmouth haven’t got off the mark yet since being promoted back to the Championship for the first time in 11 years after gaining 3 draws and 1 defeat. Playing Portsmouth back in the day had some great memories especially Survival Sunday in 2005 where we was bottom on the final day and somehow stayed up with a 2-0 win and The FA Cup Semi Final clash was a heartbreak when ex Baggies player Kanu scored past us to deny us a place in the final, still hurts to this day but we got promoted a week later.
Our first meeting in 15 years I think it would be a great game down at Portsmouth and it is unpredictable of what would happen come Sunday afternoon, lets hope it be a great day out and a new ground to tick off the list.
Player To Watch – Portsmouth
Christian Saydee would be my player to watch for Portsmouth at Fratton park on Sunday afternoon as he helped his side just about beat Middlesbrough away in their second game of the season. With forwards always scoring past us when we playing away from home in the past 2 seasons I think he would be the danger man against us on Sunday and I think our defence needs to keep him quiet.
Still only 22 years of age he has something to give for Portsmouth this season and probably could be beneficial as he is aiming to keep his side in the Championship in their first season back. I think he would be a threat and if Portsmouth turn up on the day I think he would be their key player in this Championship encounter.
Player To Watch – West Brom
A lot to choose from but my player to watch in this game is going to be Mikey Johnston. I didn’t expect us to come for him in the transfer window after other clubs such as Burnley and Sheffield United wanted his signature but we came in late and secured him on deadline day in what could be our best signing in years to come.
After his performances whilst on loan with us last season it was great to have him back this time on a permanent basis. I think he would have a good debut for us and think he would come off the bench but he did have a head injury whilst playing for Celtic last month before his move. I say come the second half he would make an appearance and start to cause Portsmouth a few problems and help us to secure our 3rd straight win on the road and give the fans to sing “His Electric” to the tune of Oasis?
My Line Up V Portsmouth
Here is my line up against Portsmouth where I be giving Uros Racic his first start after making a decent impact off the bench against Swansea a few weeks ago. I be putting Mikey Johnston on the bench for this game and would give him his first debut come the second half. I be starting Grant, Swift and Fellows just behind top goal scorer Josh Maja for this game.
My Prediction V Portsmouth
Prediction away from home against Portsmouth on a Sunday live on Sky Sports, we never do well on Sky Sports when we play away from home but it’s not Friday, it is Sunday and the last time we did was the 4-1 win over Huddersfield but I am glad we playing on Sunday instead of a Friday night, if we were I would predict we would actually lose this fixture even if it’s against newly promoted Portsmouth.
I think in the first 15 minutes Portsmouth would get the opening goal with Christian Saydee my player to watch to score early on to make it 1-0 knowing it could be another long day out at Portsmouth or a great comeback like we did against QPR.
Portsmouth would attack and try and double the lead but Alex Palmer would make great saves to stop them from scoring a few more, before half time Josh Maja would give us the equaliser to get us level before the half time whistle making us happy for the second half.
In the Second half nothing would fare in the next 20 minutes but around the 80th minute with Mikey Johnston now on the pitch would give us the lead to make it 2-1 for us to make it his first goal since singing for us on a permanent deal. In Injury time Tom Fellows would finish Pompey off to secure the third goal plus three points to bring back to The Hawthorns making the Baggies fans celebrating on the long trip back to the West Midlands.
Prediction: Portsmouth 1-3 West Brom
Goalscorer for Portsmouth: Christian Saydee
Goalscorer for West Brom: Josh Maja, Mikey Johnston, Tom Fellows
A 3-1 victory I am going for to the Baggies, if it was a Friday night I would of gone 2-0 to Portsmouth but it’s on a Sunday and I believe we would come away with all three points that could potentially put us top of the league to end the weekend.
Lets see what would happen and up the Baggies this coming Sunday.