The first Black Country derby since 2021 takes place this weekend, as Wolves travel to the Hawthorns with the plan to dump West Brom out of the FA Cup. However, the Baggies are unbeaten in the last four meetings between the two sides, so they will fancy their chances of beating the Premier League rival.
West Brom
West Brom will be hoping to make the derby much more frequent in the near future, as they look set to battle for a promotion place come the end of the season. The Baggies are currently fifth in the Championship after 28 matches, with most of their points being claimed via their stubborn defending, which has seen them suffer just 0.96 goals per game.
However, their most recent game going into this weekend will not have been the ideal warmup, with their slightly underwhelming attack on show. West Brom have only scored 1.43 goals per game this season, yet they suffered a 2-0 defeat last time out to Norwich in a game that they could have walked away with at least a point.
Wolves
The Wanderers have progressed tremendously under Gary O’Neil this campaign, and they’re now 11th in the Premier League. Wolves have only lost one of their last nine matches across all competitions, which is often down to the fact that they score consistently, as highlighted by the fact they’ve failed to score three times all season.
They’re also relatively solid defensively, conceding 1.48 goals per game on average, and that was on show against Brighton on Monday. The tie ended 0-0, but Wolves showed immense discipline and concentration, despite having just 28% of the ball. In truth, they could have stolen the three points on numerous occasions.
Verdict?
Both sides will be desperate to win this game, but they will also be just as desperate to not lose it. Even though the game plan will be to ignore the fact that the game is a derby, the occasion could discard that after the first whistle.
Nonetheless, Wolves should have enough quality to just edge their rival in what could be a scrappy game decided by fine margins.
The final prediction is West Brom 0-2 Wolves.
