Friday, March 7, 2014

Premier League Preview: West Brom - Manchester United

West Brom and Manchester United will have to
produce something extraordinary to match last
season's goal-crazy contest between them at the
Hawthorns.
United, already crowned Premier League
champion, looked set to mark Sir Alex Ferguson's
last game in charge with an emphatic victory when
the club led 5-2 with 10 minutes to play, but the
home side hit back in stunning fashion to level it at
five apiece.
West Brom sprung another surprise on the title
holders with a 2-1 triumph at Old Trafford in
September but the trend since then has been one
of declining fortunes for the Midlanders.
The subsequent 21 league games have yielded
only two victories and the club have handed the
reins to Pepe Mel in a bid to preserve their top-
flight status.
Just one point separates Mel's men from the
bottom three and, worse still, 18th-placed
Sunderland has a game in hand.
The visitors do not have any relegation issues with
which to concern themselves but David Moyes's
charges are in unfamiliar territory.
Since the advent of the Premier League in 1992,
United has finished in the top three every season
but now sit seventh, well short of the division's
leading sides.
It has been a campaign of inconsistency for the
Old Trafford outfit, which has at times strung
promising runs together - as evidenced by a six-
match winning streak in all competitions during
December - only to be let down by sporadic dips in
form.
The last four league games have produced only
five points, despite United enjoying a relatively kind
run of fixtures that included matches against Stoke
City, Fulham and Crystal Palace.
Hopes of achieving qualification for Europe now
hinge on United securing a spot in the top five,
although sixth is likely to be good enough after
Manchester City's Capital One Cup success.
Moyes's old club, Everton, sits sixth at present but
has only a slender three-point advantage, with the
two set to meet at Goodison Park on April 20.
United will have Juan Mata back after he was cup-
tied for the Champions League clash against
Olympiakos, but could be without Chicharito after
the forward suffered a knee injury while on
international duty with Mexico.
Midfielder Darren Fletcher had a happier midweek
outing for his country as he marked his Scotland
return with a second-half appearance in the
victory over Poland.
West Brom, meanwhile, will not be able to call on
striker Nicolas Anelka, who is under a club
suspension as he awaits the final decision on how
long his Football Association-sanctioned ban for
his controversial 'quenelle' gesture will be.

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