Two sides that look like they will be challenging for promotion come the end of the season will come head to head on Saturday afternoon as West Brom are set to travel to St Mary’s to face Southampton.
After an impressive run of form, the hosts currently find themselves in 4th place in the Championship table, having amassed 27 points from their opening 15 league games so far this season. This comes following 8 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats.
The Saints are undefeated in their last seven league outings and have won three of their last four league games. This run has included impressive victories against the likes of Birmingham, Hull and Stoke.
In Southampton's last league outing, they secured a narrow victory over Millwall at The Den thanks to a second-half goal from Ryan Fraser. The Saints had the better of the first half, but they were unable to find a breakthrough. Millwall defended well and limited Southampton to a few half-chances.
Southampton started the second half brightly and took the lead in the 52nd minute. Fraser cut inside from the right wing and fired a low shot into the corner of the net. Millwall tried to respond, but they were unable to create any clear-cut chances. Southampton defended well and held on to their lead for a deserved victory.
West Brom also come into this weekend on the back of an impressive run of form which has seen them climb up to 5th position in the table. The Baggies have gained 26 points from their 15 league games following 7 wins, 5 draws and 3 defeats.
Carlos Corberan’s side will be aiming to extend their winning run to four games on the bounce. The Baggies recorded consecutive 2-0 victories over QPR and Coventry and followed this up by beating Hull 3-1 last time out.
Southampton and West Bromwich Albion are two of the most established clubs in English football, with a combined history of over 400 years. The two sides have met on 81 occasions in all competitions, with Southampton holding the edge in terms of head-to-head record, having won 32 games, compared to West Brom's 25.
The rivalry between the two clubs reached its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when both sides were competing for European qualification. Southampton finished third in the Premier League in 1997-98, while West Brom finished seventh in 2001-02.
It was West Brom who recorded a comfortable victory when these sides last met in the 2020/21 Premier League campaign. Two goals in three first-half minutes through Matheus Pereira and Matt Phillips put Allardyce's men in control at the Hawthorns before Callum Robinson's fine finish completed the Baggies' biggest home win in the Premier League since November 2016.
We are backing Adam Armstrong to score the first goal in the game as he has shown some impressive form at the start of this season. Armstrong has netted 8 goals in his 15 appearances and we expect that he could get himself on the scoresheet this weekend.