Monday Night Football brings you another derby, with a Midlands clash between West Brom and Aston Villa. With Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Wanderers dropping into the Football League in the last few seasons, this fixture has grown even more in importance. With both sides sitting in 10th and 11th in the table on 14 points, it could not be any closer between these rivals and both will be desperate for the bragging rights, until the reverse fixture at least. The managers will tell you that it’s just another game worth 3 points, but we all know derby games are much more than that. West Brom have had the better fortunes in this fixture in recent times and have finished higher than Villa for the last two seasons running, so Paul Lambert and his team will want to at least stamp their authority in this game. West Brom have again started the season decently and shaken off the tag of being the ‘boing-boing’ team and will be looking to solidify their place in the top half of the table.
Both teams have failed to produce a consistent run of results so far this season but Villa will be confident going into the game having only lost once away from home so far this season. After a 2-0 win against Cardiff City last time out, wins against Arsenal and Man City under their belt and hopefully key players back from injury, a performance of similar standard against the Baggies is what the away fans will be expecting. West Brom will be hoping to dust off the sheer disappointment of dropping 2 points against Chelsea due to a dubious penalty in the last minute of the game. Albion have enjoyed their own share of success with wins against Man United at Old Trafford and against Crystal Palace in their last home game and with the creative talent they have in midfield, they will be confident of a positive result.
As has been mentioned earlier, West Brom have had the better luck in this fixture of late. They are unbeaten in the last 5 PL fixtures against Villa, although the last three have ended in a draw. The last meeting between the two sides finished with honours even in an enthralling 2-2 draw. Aston Villa had been leading 2-0 but were pegged back and Peter Odemwengie rescued a point for the Baggies in the last 10 minutes.
Team News
West Brom
West Brom are hoping to have Nicolas Anelka (groin) and Sinclair (hamstring) fit for the game although they are decisions that are likely to be made nearer to kick-off. Goalkeeper Boaz Myhill has been struggling with an Achilles injury recently but will also hope to be fit to start. Foster (foot), Gera (knee) and Jones (hamstring) are all missing from the squad. Goals from the strikers has been a real issue for West Brom with Anelka, Anichebe and Long all scoring one goal between them this season. The reason why they haven’t been under intense scrutiny so far is because of the amount of goals coming from midfield with Amalfitano, Berahino and Sessegnon having scored six goals collectively. James Morrison and Claudio Yacob also have one each, so the goals have been shared around the team but they will hope for their strikers to start hitting form.
Aston Villa
Villa’s main worry is over Christian Benteke who sustained a slight injury to his knee on international duty but the early signs are that he should be available for this match, which will delight all concerned. Brad Guzan (ankle), Andi Weimann (hamstring) Antonio Luna (hamstring) and Ciaran Clark (foot) should all also be available to the trip to the Hawthorns. Fabian Delph, who has been excellent in midfield this season, is rated 50/50; but, the big miss will be Gabby Agbonlahor who is unlikely to feature, which is a shame as he has a brilliant record in all of the Midlands derbies.
Possible Team Line-Ups
Interesting Facts
- West Brom are unbeaten in this fixture in the last 5 matches (W2 D3).
- None of the fourteen Premier League meetings between the two have been separated by more than a goal.
- Paul Lambert has never lost away from home against West Brom, winning twice as manager of Norwich and drawing once as manager of Aston Villa.
- Victories for either side in this fixture in the Premier League have always been a 2-1 score line.
- West Brom have a chance conversion rate of 12% out of 124 shots whilst Aston Villa have a chance conversion rate of 11% out of 140 shots this season.
Key Men
West Brom: Stephane Sessegnon
Sessegnon has been a great signing so far for West Brom. They picked him up for around £6million in the summer and he is proving to be worth it after scoring two goals  accompanied by consistently good performances, including the 2-1 win against Man United earlier in the season. His creative passing has also been good this season creating a total of 11 chances with 10 of those being from open play and has managed to find one assist, as well as having a 73% passing accuracy in the final third. He could definitely have a very big part to play and is likely to trouble Aston Villa’s defence
Aston Villa: Christian Benteke
The big Belgium powerhouse started the season in terrific form scoring four goals in four games, but since his return from injury he is yet to score and has not been able to pick up where he left off. He is likely to play after being injured again whilst playing for Belgium, which will be huge boost because an Aston Villa side with Benteke is definitely better than without. Even though he has been unavailable for a few games, he is still one of Aston Villa’s most influential players, scoring the four goals and creating 17 chances, which is the also the most in the team. We all know about his great heading attributes and it shows with ten headed attempts at goal so far. The main issue this season has probably been this clinical nature having missed 6 out of 8 clear cut chances. If he finds the form that he has been missing since coming back from injury then you can certainly see him getting on the score sheet.
Prediction
This looks to be a feisty affair and with both sides performing fairly similarly this season, you feel that it may also be a tight game. I highly doubt that one team will run away with this match but the entertainment factor will be present. With Benteke in the Villa line-up, he will cause problems for the West Brom defence and will probably be the difference between the two sides.
Prediction: West Brom 2-3 Aston VillaÂ
