Bournemouth will strengthen their hold of second position in the Championship standings if they can defeat West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday evening.
While the Cherries are six points clear of third spot with three matches in hand, the Baggies are down in 12th spot and on the brink of dropping out of the playoff race.
Match preview
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Since the turn of the year, there has been the perception that Bournemouth have sometimes under-performed and not produced the results which go hand-in-hand with promotion contenders.
However, 23 points have been accumulated from 12 matches, 10 of which have come from their last four fixtures at a time when the teams below them have been inconsistent.
The Cherries could not claim to be at their best against Bristol City on Saturday, but coming from behind to win 3-2 ensured that Bournemouth remained clear of Huddersfield Town and Luton Town.
While Scott Parker will insist that there is plenty of work ahead, still having nine matches remaining provides Bournemouth will plenty of leeway when it comes to achieving their target.
Leading marksman Dominic Solanke has scored in his last four appearances, taking his tally to 24 strikes for the season.
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At one stage, West Brom looked like rivaling Bournemouth for a top-two position, and that highlights the Baggies' fall from grace since the turn of the year.
Just 13 points have come from 15 matches during that period, and their latest defeat at Birmingham City has realistically ended any lingering hope of making the playoffs.
Although Steve Bruce will insist that the Baggies will do everything possible to reach the 75-point mark, the rebuilding job at The Hawthorns needs to start sooner rather than later.
On a positive note, West Brom have still only lost two of their 18 matches on familiar territory this campaign, while they also possess the best defensive record from those fixtures.
Their only home triumph from their last five outings came against leaders Fulham, something which will leave fans optimistic of a repeat performance against opponents of similar quality.
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Team News
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Bruce is expected to make several changes to his West Brom starting lineup with Andy Carroll potentially being brought back into the team.
Adam Reach and Grady Diangana are also in contention, with Taylor Gardner-Hickman among the players who could drop down to the substitutes' bench.
Daryl Dike has been ruled out for the season, while Matt Phillips is unlikely to have recovered from a foot injury in time for this contest.
With nine games still remaining, Parker may choose to start rotating his squad on a game-by-game basis, a move which could result in Siriki Dembele being drafted into the attack.
Ben Pearson and Todd Cantwell are also options in midfield, but Kieffer Moore remains sidelined with a broken foot.
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Ajayi, Bartley, Clarke; Furlong, Livermore, Mowatt, Townsend; Diangana; Grant, Carroll
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Travers; Smith, Phillips, Kelly, Zemura; Lerma, Cook, Cantwell; Christie, Solanke, Dembele
We say: West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Bournemouth
With West Brom having form for upsetting promotion-chasing teams on home turf, they cannot be discounted from this contest. That said, Bournemouth have shown more consistency of late, and we are backing the visitors to edge this contest in the closing stages.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bournemouth win with a probability of 45.3%. A win for West Bromwich Albion had a probability of 29.17% and a draw had a probability of 25.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bournemouth win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.45%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.16%) and 0-2 (7.9%). The likeliest West Bromwich Albion win was 1-0 (8.03%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.13%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 4.7% likelihood.
