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      MATCH PREVIEW

WEST BROMWICH ALBION v SOUTHAMPTON
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 17th August 2013, 3pm
The Hawthorns

MATCH NOTES

The game will be the 70th league and cup meeting of the two sides. Southampton currently have a slight edge with 24 wins to Albion's 22.

Albion have opened a season against Southampton twice before. At the start of the 1975/76 season, Johnny Giles' first match in charge ended with a 3-0 defeat away at The Dell, whilst at the start of the 1969/70 campaign, two goals from Colin Suggett gave the Baggies a 2-0 win, again at The Dell.

Albion have won just three out of their last 17 opening day fixtures.

The Baggies' last match on August 17 came in 2002 when they lost 1-0 at Old Trafford against Manchester United in the club's first ever Premier League game.

Southampton's last game on this date also came in 2002, the Saints playing out a goalless draw at home to Middlesbrough.

Albion's last six games: Bologna (H, Fr) 2-0; Cork City (A, Fr) 6-0; Genoa (N, Fr) 0-1; Atromitos (N, Fr) 3-1; Derby County (A, Fr) 2-0; Puskas Academy (N, Fr) 3-0

Southampton's last six games: Real Sociedad (H, Fr) 4-3; Celta Vigo (A, Fr) 0-0; Besiktas (N, Fr) 3-1; FC Shalke 04 (N, Fr) 0-2; Palamos CF (A, Fr) 8-0; UE Llagostera (A, Fr) 2-1

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Boss Steve Clarke expects to have an almost fully fit squad to choose from with no new injuries reported following the midweek international games.

New signing Nicolas Anelka is expected to start but fellow newcomers Diego Lugano and Matej Vydra look likely to be among the substitutes.

Long-term injured trio Zoltan Gera, George Thorne and Adil Nabi remain sidelined.

Squad from: Foster, Myhill, Reid, Olsson, Popov, Ridgewell, Lugano, McAuley, Dawson, Jones, Tamas, Yacob, Morrison, Brunt, Dorrans, Mulumbu, Rosenberg, Long, Anelka, Vydra.

Southampton

Full-backs Luke Shaw and Nathaniel Clyne are both doubts ahead of the trip to The Hawthorns. Shaw is rated the most likely of the pair to feature.

Saints’ boss Mauricio Pochettino otherwise has no injury problems.

Squad from: Boruc, Davis, Gazzaniga, Clyne, Stephens, Shaw, Fox, Lovren, Yoshida, Hooiveld, Fonte, Schneiderlin, Cork, Davis, Ward-Prowse, Wanyama, Puncheon, Isgrove, Lallana, Rodriguez, Ramirez, Lambert, Mayuka, Do Prado.

QUOTES

Baggies' boss Steve Clarke:

“I think throughout last season, even from Southampton’s first game when they lost 3-2 at Man City, they showed they would compete and try and play good football. I like them, I like a lot of their players, I think they’re a good footballing side. For us, I think it is a dangerous game and we need to be 100 per cent focused on it to make sure we get the right result. I expect the same side from Southampton and I’m hopeful we’ll get the same results.

“They had a really good first season back in the Premier League. They invested heavily when they came up and they’ve invested heavily again this summer. They’re making their intentions clear that they want to become a viable, positive Premier League club. It’s a difficult game for us.

“We probably go into the game as slight favourites, whereas last year we kicked off against Liverpool at home and everyone expected them to win. This season it’s slightly different because the fact we finished eighth last season will mean teams will come to us now and make it difficult for us. We got a little taste of that in the second half of last season and we look forward to the challenge. It’s up to us to combat that - we have to find another level.”

www.wba.co.uk

Saints' manager Mauricio Pochettino:

"We have different goals for this season. We want to finish as high as possible in the table, so we don't want to set ourselves any limits.

"We need to be a consistent and solid in order to make that possible. I think we're on the right path, so now we have to translate all of the good work we've done in pre-season into getting off to a good start.

"We're going to West Bromwich with the mentality of wanting to win the game.”

www.saintsfc.co.uk

MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 5/4, Southampton Win: 11/5, Draw: 23/10.

First Goalscorer

Albion: Anelka 9/2, Long 6/1, Rosenberg 13/2, Berahino 8/1, Dorrans 10/1, Morrison 10/1, Brunt 14/1, Roofe 14/1, Mulumbu 20/1.

Southampton: Lambert 6/1, Rodriguez 13/1, Ramirez 9/1, Puncheon 10/1, Mayuka 10/1, Lallana 11/1, Do Prado 12/1, Isgrove 14/1, Schneiderlin 16/1, Wanyama 20/1.

REFEREE

Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)

Refereed three Albion games last season - the 1-0 defeat at Chelsea in March, the 3-2 defeat at Reading in January and the 1-0 defeat at home to Stoke City in December.

The Leicestershire official took charge of just one Southampton game last season - their 6-1 defeat at Arsenal in September.

Friend issued 128 yellow and four red cards during the season.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for the game are currently on general sale.

The Smethwick End has sold out whilst the Birmingham Road End has just single tickets remaining.

The category B fixture is priced £25 adults, £20 seniors, £15 under-21s/students and £10 under-17s.

WEATHER FORECAST

Cloudy with a 10% chance of showers, 17°C.

FIXTURE HISTORY

Albion first met Southampton in league action during the 1927/28 season at second division level. The first game, which took place at The Dell on April 9, saw the home side run out 3-2 winners. Jerry Mackie, Jimmy Bullock and Stan Cribb scored the Saints' goals whilst Tommy Glidden and Joe Carter notched for the visitors. The Baggies didn't have to wait long to gain revenge, the return game was played just 24 hours later, Albion winning 2-1, Jimmy Cookson and Sammy Short scoring for the hosts.

Albion's biggest league win against Southampton is 5-1, coming at The Hawthorns in May 1930, Jimmy Cookson scoring four of the Baggies' goals. Albion, under the leadership of Ron Atkinson, also recorded a 4-0 win in October 1979, John Deehan, Gary Owen, Bryan Robson and Ally Brown the goalscorers.

Albion's heaviest league defeat against Southampton came at The Dell in August 1967, the Baggies suffering a 4-0 defeat with Ron Davies notching a brace for the home side. Albion also suffered a 4-1 defeat at The Dell in December 1982 and lost a seven goal thriller in March 1985, again at The Dell. Albion have a particularly poor record against the Saints away from home, winning just four times in 35 league and cup games.

Southampton's last win at The Hawthorns came in the last game of the 1983/84 season, Steve Moran and David Puckett hitting the goals. Since that game Albion are undefeated at home against the Saints although just seven games have been played, the Baggies winning three of them.


LAST LEAGUE MEETING AT THE HAWTHORNS

Albion 2-0 Southampton
Barclays Premier League
Monday 5th November  2012, 8:00pm

Albion: Foster; Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Yacob, Mulumbu; Dorrans (Brunt 66), Gera, Odemwingie (Fortune 83); Long (Lukaku 71). Subs not used: Myhill, Popov, Rosenberg, Tamas.

Goalscorers: Odemwingie 36 & 60.

Booked: Jones 10 (foul)

Southampton: Gazzaniga; Clyne, Fonte, Yoshida, Fox (Shaw 82); Schneiderlin, S Davis, Lallana, Ramirez (Do Prado 76); Rodriguez (Mayuka 76), Lambert. Subs not used: K Davis, Hooiveld, Ward-Prowse, Puncheon.

Attendance: 25,635

Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)

Peter Odemwingie increased the pressure on Southampton boss Nigel Adkins as his two goals propelled West Brom into fifth spot in the Premier League. Adkins' side remain rooted to the foot of the table after a fifth successive away defeat and they have now conceded 28 goals in 10 league matches. But these are halcyon days for the Baggies and they bounced back from heartbreaking injury time defeats against Manchester City and Newcastle thanks to a goal in each half from Odemwingie.

It was their fifth victory in six home matches and, although not at their best, they still contained too much firepower for the Saints. Odemwingie and the tireless Shane Long posed plenty of problems up front while Youssouf Mulumbu bossed the midfield department. Albion fans taunted Adkins, who has led Southampton to successive promotions, with chants of 'you're getting sacked in the morning'. And, although the visitors showed plenty of promise in spells, their leaky defence is undermining their attacking threat. Southampton axed keeper Artur Boruc who has been the subject of a club investigation after allegedly throwing a water bottle into the crowd during the home league game with Tottenham.

Albion began positively and a fine pass from Odemwingie picked out the run of Long into the Saints box. But the Baggies leading scorer opted to cut the ball back across the danger area rather than shoot. Billy Jones became the first player to be yellow carded after 10 minutes for a high challenge which caught the back of Southampton skipper Adam Lallana. Rickie Lambert had the first attempt on goal and his low drive from a narrow angle contained plenty of power but was held onto by West Brom keeper Ben Foster. Albion retaliated and a low shot from Odemwingie took a deflection off Zoltan Gera and flew over the Saints crossbar. The home side started to look more threatening and it needed a last ditch tackle from Morgan Schneiderlin to deny Long after Jonas Olsson had headed a Graham Dorrans free-kick back across goal. Odemwingie flashed a low 25 yard shot inches wide in a swift Albion counter-attack after Foster had gathered Lambert's header from a Gaston Ramirez centre. But the Nigeria international broke the deadlock in controversial fashion in the 36th minute. The impressive Mulumbu released Odemwingie whose left-footed shot contained plenty of power but took a deflection off Maya Yoshida as it flew past Saints keeper Paulo Gazzaniga. But TV replays also showed that Odemwingie had appeared to handle the ball in the build-up. Gazzaniga did well to block a close range effort from Long and Albion appealed in vain for a penalty for handball when Schneiderlin blocked the follow-up attempt from Odemwingie.

Southampton started the second half on the offensive and a shot on the turn from Lambert struck the bar with Foster well beaten. Foster cut out a dangerous cross from Daniel Fox as the visitors pressed for an equaliser. But after 60 minutes Odemwingie doubled Albion's lead with a clinical finish. Left-back Liam Ridgewell's long pass found Long who held the ball up, cut inside and floated over an inviting centre which Odemwingie headed home from close range. The Baggies could have increased their lead with skipper Chris Brunt volleying just wide at close range from a cross by fellow substitute Romelu Lukaku. Yoshida headed just wide in a late Southampton rally but Albion held on for a comfortable win.

 Sporting Life

CURRENT CONNECTIONS

None

PAST CONNECTIONS

Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: James Bowden, Tommy Broad, Harry Brown, David Burnside, Richard Chaplow, Mickey Evans, Sammy Farrington, Ricardo Fuller, Bruce Grobbelaar, Harry Hadley, Ian Hamilton, Ivan Katalinic, Billy Light, Graham Lovett, Mike McCartney, Roddy McLeod, Nigel Quashie, Carlton Palmer, Pedro Pele, Chris Perry, Graham Potter, John Reynolds, Uwe Rosler, Terry Simpson, David Speedie, Derek Statham, Andy Townsend and Stuart Williams.

Ex-Albion assistant manager Frank Burrows was formerly a coach at Southampton; Mike Kelly was a coach at both clubs; Former Albion defender Garry Pendrey was Saints' assistant manager under Gordon Strachan.

ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS SOUTHAMPTON

 VENUE P W D  L F A
 Home 33 18 10 5 46 26
 Away 35 4 12 19 37 61
 Neutral 1 0 1 0 1 1
 Total 69 22 23 24 84 88

LAST TEN MATCHES AGAINST SOUTHAMPTON

 DATE COMPETITION H/A F-A GOALSCORERS  GATE
 Sat 27 Apr 2013 Premier League A 3-0 Fortuné, Lukaku, Long  31,946
 Mon 05 Nov 2012 Premier League H 2-0 Odemwingie 2  25,635
 Mon 28 Apr 2008 Championship H 1-1 Brunt - Lallana  26,167
 Sat 06 Oct 2007 Championship A 2-3 Koren 2 - John 2, Skacel  21,967
 Sat 10 Feb 2007 Championship H 1-1 Phillips - Jones  21,138
 Sat 12 Aug 2006 Championship A 0-0  24,233
 Tue 22 Feb 2005 Premier League H 0-0  25,865
 Sat 06 Nov 2004 Premier League A 2-2 Earnshaw 2 - Svensson 2  31,057
 Sat 01 Mar 2003 Premier League A 0-1 Beattie  31,915
 Sat 14 Sep 2002 Premier League H 1-0 Gregan  26,383

 

 
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