West Bromwich Albion will welcome Preston North End to The Hawthorns this Wednesday night as the two enter this one is contrasting sides of the table as the Baggies look to get their automatic promotion fight back on track.
On the other hand, Preston have struggled for the best part of two years now after a decent attempt at fighting for the play-offs back in 2019/20 where they finished just four points off the top, the club are once again battling just to get into the top half.
That sound when the ball hit the back of the net. 🔊#OTD in 2020 @conortownsend93 won our FA Cup clash at West Ham with this beauty. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/iB0XGjtaaE— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) January 25, 2022
That sound when the ball hit the back of the net. 🔊#OTD in 2020 @conortownsend93 won our FA Cup clash at West Ham with this beauty. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/iB0XGjtaaE
As of now, the Lancashire outfit sit with only eight wins from the 26 games played, and while this is just three points adrift of 12th-placed Blackpool, with 33 goals conceded for Preston and just 29 goals scored, it's tough to imagine them being able to break this gap with enough conviction to give fans hope of finishing inside the top 10.
The Lilywhites are on a three-game winless streak in the Championship, plus a further defeat in the FA Cup to a Cardiff City side who are below them in the table.
Prior to this, Preston did put together a decent string of results throughout December and November, as they managed to beat title chasers Bournemouth, play-off hopefuls Middlesbrough, and take a point off the league leaders Fulham.
Moreover, consecutive wins over Barnsley and then Stoke City gave them a massive boost and launched them further away from the drop zone.
As for West Brom, it’s been a topsy-turvy few months and in truth, been a troublesome season at times for them as they’ve bounced between the top two and the fourth and third places all too often.
Now, they currently sit in fifth place, and a worrying three places from seventh and their play-off charge is suddenly under threat.
There should be no major concern that the Baggies manage to get into the play-offs come to the end of the campaign, but on the other hand, solid form does seem to be evading them right now as they lost a crucial tie to Queens Park Rangers two weeks ago, not longer after dropping points to relegation-fighting sides, Derby County and Barnsley.
West Brom did return to winning ways recently, however, as they managed to thump Peterborough 3-0 and thus stay inside the top six.
It is set to be a close game given the form of the two sides, but the Midlands side should have enough to see things through and get across the line with a win and a game that will see over 2.5 goals.