West Bromwich Albion will welcome fellow Premier League chasers Blackburn Rovers to The Hawthorns this weekend as the two sides meet in what is arguably the biggest game of the season for them both following a tough period in the Championship recently.
The two are still competing well enough in the second tier in order to get back into the Premier League, but following Blackburn's recent loss to Nottingham Forest and West Brom's torrid stint of form recently, more work needs to be done to convince the rest of the division they can get back into the top flight.
The Baggies, however, are in disarray as they have seen their position in third completely disappear with them now sitting an extraordinary ninth in the table and even behind the likes of Luton Town following another loss to Sheffield United in what was Steve Bruce’s first game in charge.
West Brom fans should be hopeful the former Newcastle United boss can turn things around, however, as a previous stint in the Championship saw him promoted with Hull City through the automatic places and he is well accustomed to getting the job done in this league.
At the same time, despite three 2-0 defeats on the bounce for the Midlands side, Bruce’s side are still only one point off returning to the playoffs spots inside the top six but opponents here, Blackburn, are eight clear and the chance to break into the top six should be their first point of call under the new boss.
Blackburn, on the other hand, are not in the best form of their own at the moment and their place in the automatic positions has gone recently with them and Bournemouth battling it out just behind league leaders Fulham.
The Lancashire outfit haven't won in their past three games following that defeat to Forest, which came after losing to strugglers Swansea City too.
Moreover, they drew in a must-not-lose game with play-off hopefuls Luton in January too, not long after a fantastic win over Middlesbrough which pushed them into the top two.
Worryingly, the form of striker Ben Brereton Diaz has also dried up for Blackburn in the past few weeks as the Chile international hasn’t scored since his winner against Barnsley back in December.
Given the form of either side and how wins have evaded them much more recently, Forebet predicts a draw here and in a game that sees both teams score as the race for Premier League status in the Championship really starts to heat up.