West Bromwich Albion v Swansea City Competition - Sky Bet Championship Date - 13 March 2019 Kick off - 8pm Venue - The Hawthorns Following their battling performance at top of the table Norwich on Friday evening which saw them lose, rather unluckily 1-0, next up for Graham Potter’s Swansea squad is a visit to 4th places West Bromwich. At Carrow Road, Emi Buendia's stunning strike earned the Canaries victory over the Swans and lifted them, albeit temporarily, five points clear at the top of the Championship. The leaders had been second best for much of the first half, but improved after the break and claimed all three points when the Argentine forward fired home from 15 yards. Swansea built on a positive start to the game and registered eight attempts at goal in the opening 45 minutes, forcing home goalkeeper Tim Krul into several saves. First the former Newcastle man palmed away Daniel James' angled drive, then kept out George Byers' long-range effort before clawing out Bersant Celina's deflected 25-yard shot. In contrast, Norwich struggled for openings, as top scorer Teemu Pukki dragged their best chance wide from 15 yards after racing on to Buendia's pass. But the Canaries' only effort on target of the game nine minutes into the second half proved crucial as Buendia skipped past the challenge of Matt Grimes and rifled home a powerful left-footed effort past Kristoffer Nordfeldt. The day after the Swans went down at Carrow Road, West Brom lost more ground on the Championship's top two after being frustrated by bottom side Ipswich Town in what proved to be head coach Darren Moore's final match in charge. Moore less than three hours after his side were denied victory by the Tractor Boys, slipping nine points below the automatic promotion places. The Baggies had looked on course for victory after Stefan Johansen gave them the lead inside five minutes with a deflected free-kick that wrong-footed goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski. They had a string of chances to seal the points in the first half, but found Bialkowski in excellent form - the Pole making two good saves from Jacob Murphy and then denying Tosin Adarabioyo from point-blank range after the defender had met Johansen's corner. But Ipswich drew level early in the second half through Jon Nolan, who headed Gwion Edwards' cross from the right into the bottom corner from 12 yards out, and held on for a point. The result saw the fourth-placed Baggies' winless run stretch to three matches, following back-to-back losses to promotion rivals Sheffield United and Leeds United. The Swans have played the Baggies on 42 occasions, winning 18, losing 15 and drawing 9. In the reverse fixture earlier in the season, West Brom ran out 2-1 victors: Turning to Wednesday evening, I think that the Baggies will raise their game following the harsh sacking of Darren Moore and will run out 3-1 winners.
If anyone driving up , its probably the easiest grounds to get to but be aware of traffic jams heading on the elevated section of the M5, down to 10 mph at times for about 5 miles
Our lack of cutting edge in front of goal is holding us back, some of the build up play is very good. I'll go for a draw. 1 - 1.
We would have beaten Norwich if we had a consistent striker playing.....WBA have been a solid side but not unbeatable....Play like we did at Norwich and we can get something tonight.
Wont be watching the game, unfortunately I'll be at the Allianz Arena watching some team called Bayern Munich against some British team. Wonder what colour the stadium is going to be tonight. Anyhoo, just about out the door so must dash, enjoy the game chaps WBA 1-1 Swans
Tonight’s teams; Swansea City are unchanged, with Wayne Routledge making his 250th appearance for the club. Swansea City: Kristoffer Nordfeldt; Connor Roberts, Mike van der Hoorn (captain), Cameron Carter-Vickers, Kyle Naughton; George Byers, Matt Grimes; Nathan Dyer, Bersant Celina, Wayne Routledge; Daniel James. Subs: Erwin Mulder, Cian Harries, Declan John, Jay Fulton, Barrie McKay, Yan Dhanda, Courtney Baker-Richardson. West Brom: Sam Johnstone, Jake Livermore, Chris Brunt (captain), Conor Townsend, Dwight Gayle, Jay Rodriguez, Craig Dawson, Ahmed Hegazi, Rekeem Harper, Mason Holgate, Jacob Murphy. Subs: Jonathan Bond, Hal Robson-Kanu, Kyle Bartley, Stefan Johansen, James Morrison, Tyrone Mears, Jonathan Leko.