The Baggies are in the play offs against Southampton at The Hawthorns on Sunday afternoon as we finished 5th in the Championship after a 3-0 win over Preston North End last weekend.
Southampton finished 4th in the league above us while ending the season 12 points above us and now would take us on for a place at Wembley on the 26th May.
Last time out for Southampton they beat Leeds United 2-1 at Elland Road in the last game of the season while we beat Preston 3-0. This is the biggest game in years and the team I fear the most in this league is Southampton where we lost both games to them in the regular league season the first in November a narrow 2-1 defeat away at St Mary’s and a 2-0 defeat on a Friday night at the Hawthorns in February. Lets hope we can do better against Southampton and a positive one here when we beat Port Vale in the play off final in 1993 we did lose twice to them in the regular season and also Aston Villa didn’t beat us in the 2018-19 season before our play off tie against them.
Lets hope that outcome happens during the play-off semi finals as I am already pumped for this.
Player To Watch – Southampton
I’m going for Che Adams as the player to watch for Saints against us on Sunday, he is one of the strikers alongside Adam Armstrong who has scored 37 goals between them this season. Che Adams has scored 16 goals in 40 apps this season and I’m going for the ex Blues player to be my player to watch for this encounter.
Che Adams skillset and his current form makes him one of Southampton’s key players and his ability to influence games with his goal scoring opportunity, versatility, and big game mentality could be instrumental for the Saints against us on Sunday.
Player To Watch – West Brom
Darnell Furlong is going to be my player to watch for the Baggies for the first leg after his man of the match performance against Preston on Saturday while gaining an assist and the third goal that sealed our play off place.
I say he is one of the best wing backs we have and has scored some great goals this season and believe he could help us in the play offs against Southampton.
However, what makes Furlong particularly noteworthy is his attacking prowess from the full-back position. He possesses the pace, dribbling ability, and crossing accuracy to pose a significant threat down the right flank. Furlong’s overlapping runs and deliveries into the box can create goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates, especially against teams that struggle to defend against wide attacks.
Overall, Darnell Furlong’s ability to contribute effectively in both defense and attack, coupled with his versatility and experience, make him a player to watch for West Brom against Southampton in the playoffs. His impact on the game, both on and off the ball, could be instrumental in determining the outcome of the match.
My Line Up V Southampton
Here is my starting 11 going into the Southampton game, I will start Semi Ajayi alongside Cedric Kipre for the first leg, I’d play the same as they did against Preston with Mikey Johnston, Grady Diangana and Tom Fellows together and would start Brandon Thomas Asante up front.
Predictions
Predictions is a tricky one coming into this first leg play off tie, I say he would go for this game like no other and with us losing 4 times at home this season I think we will stay at 4 defeats at home come the final whistle on Sunday.
In the first half we will attack Southampton and be in control of the game and I say we are going to get the first goal in the first 20 minutes with Tom Fellows scoring and after I say we will sit back and it be 1-0 at half time.
Second half I can see Che Adams scoring in the first 10 minutes for The Saints making it 1-1 and it won’t last long as Josh Maja would come on for Brandon Thomas Asante and get one to give us the lead in the game to make it 2-1 and then we will score from a corner near the end with Darnell Furlong hitting the ball into the back of the net to give us a 3-1 lead coming to St Mary’s for the second leg on the Friday 17th May.
I’m backing the Baggies in this game in the first leg to give us the advantage in the second leg, I say it be difficult and already feeling it but with our home record I do feel we are going to get the win here but not really confident about the away leg. Lets hope I say every Baggie fan would take a 3-1 win right now if given look where we came from like last season where we sat in 24th place in October 2022.
Lets get behind our team on Sunday and hope we get the result going to St Mary’s.
Prediction: West Brom 3-1 Southampton
Goalscorers for West Brom: Tom Fellows, Josh Maja, Darnell Furlong
Goalscorers for Southampton: Che Adams