The Baggies head into Tuesday night with a real chance to put daylight between themselves and the relegation fight. Victory over Watford FC, combined with a slip from Oxford United against Wrexham AFC, would mathematically secure their Championship status despite an expected points deduction.
Now 8 games unbeaten under James Morrison, 3 wins and 5 draws despite having his first defeat to Oxford United in his first game but the last 8 have been great for the Baggies plus 5 clean sheets in 6 games with Max O’Leary and George Campbell been crucial in our fight to stay up. All this means one more win would confirm safety for the club who had a poor season under Ryan Mason and Eric Ramsay.
Next up is Watford who are winless in 5 games and have nothing to play for, the Baggies who are on the best run since March 2024 are looking to go one step ahead and hope to get a result here and our relegation rivals fail to win their game.
Player To Watch – Watford
Imrân Louza is the one Watford player who can really hurt us on Tuesday night. He’s put up serious numbers this season, with 7 goals and 9 assists, and that tells you exactly what kind of threat he is. He’s not just a tidy midfielder—he’s someone who can dictate the tempo, pick a pass, and pop up with decisive moments in the final third. Players like that are dangerous in tight, high-pressure games like this.
What will worry Baggies fans even more is what happened earlier in the season. Louza ran the show in that reserve fixture back in October and picked up man of the match against us. That kind of past performance always adds an extra edge—he’ll come into this one believing he can do it again.
Keeping him quiet has to be a priority. The recent defensive improvement—five clean sheets in six—will be tested properly if Louza finds space between the lines. He’s exactly the type of player who can punish even a small lapse in concentration.
Player To Watch – West Brom
Since James Morrison stepped in, Josh Maja looks like a forward reborn. Three goals under the interim boss might not sound explosive on paper, but it’s the timing and importance of those goals that stand out—they’ve come when the team has needed someone to step up in big moments. His movement looks sharper, his confidence is clearly back, and he’s linking play much better in this more structured system.
In tight games where chances are limited, having a striker who can take one opportunity and make it count is often the difference between survival and being dragged back into trouble.
There’s also that added personal edge. With questions around his long-term future, Maja has every reason to keep proving his worth. A strong finish to the season—especially if he delivers again on Tuesday—would go a long way toward showing he deserves a contract renewal.
Against Watford FC, he’ll be looking to do exactly that: keep his scoring run going, lead the line with confidence, and hopefully be the one who fires the Baggies to the result that secures Championship safety.
Line up V Watford
Line up over Watford, I keep the same back four and the same midfield who have performed well on Saturday over Preston. One change I make is swap Aune Heggebo for Daryl Dike who could be in need of a rest as Dike is looking to kick on from his first goal of the season at Preston on Saturday.
Prediction V Watford
Last time out I predicted we beat Preston 2-1, it was 2-0 with goals from Josh Maja and Aune Heggbo that puts us nearly safe from relegation to the third tier.
Next up is Watford and lets see if the Baggies can get the job done tomorrow night.
I say the start of the game would be quiet with both sides trying to get into the game, the first chance would come in the 30th minute with Imrân Louza been denied by Max O’Leary to keep the scores goalless.
There won’t be much in the first half as the scores remain 0-0 at the break.
After the break, West Brom would have a corner and Mowatt’s delivery would fall for George Campbell to clinch a header to put the Baggies 1-0 up early in the second half.
Then after the goal there wouldn’t be many opportunites with Watford trying to get one back, around added time Isaac Price would make a great run in for then Aune Heggebo to beat his defender one on one to strike it to double the lead and secure Albion all three points that could mean all but safe as another 2-0 win would spark a great week for the club.
Prediction: West Brom 2-0 Watford
Goalscorers for West Brom: George Campbell, Aune Heggebo
Another 2-0 win I’m going for here that could mean that we safe from relegation. The second half would mean we would come out on top and do our job to get all three points and then hope Oxford United fail to win their game. If it all depends on the points deduction we would get and been 8 points ahead of Oxford, then I say 3 points taken off us would still mean we technically safe as Oxford would have to win all their remaining two fixtures as they face Wrexham and Millwall in those games.