West Bromwich Albion play host to Peterborough United on Saturday afternoon looking to end a four-match winless streak in the Championship.
While the Baggies currently occupy a position in the playoffs, Peterborough remain in the relegation zone after posting successive defeats.
Match preview
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With every passing week, many West Brom supporters must feel that their side will finally start to click back into gear after such a disappointing run of form.
However, last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers heaped further pressure on head coach Valerien Ismael, who has overseen just three narrow wins from 12 matches in all competitions.
The Baggies now sit seven points adrift of the top two, with the more pressing issue being on ensuring that they remain ahead of the chasing pack for the playoffs.
On the plus side, West Brom are the only team in the division to still possess an unbeaten home record, but five of their 12 games at The Hawthorns have ended in draws.
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At a time when the West Midlands outfit are winless in four Championship matches, opponents Peterborough have prevailed in just one of their last 10 fixtures in the league.
That came on December 11 when they edged out Millwall, but seven goals have been conceded against Blackpool and Coventry City in the games which have followed.
Edging out Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup came as a much-needed boost after a coronavirus-related break which lasted three weeks, although Darren Ferguson knows that any momentum generated from that match has now been lost.
In sharp contrast to West Brom's unbeaten home record, Posh have the worst away return in the Championship, collecting just three points from their 12 encounters on the road.
They remain three points adrift of safety, albeit with two matches in hand on a Reading side which look increasingly devoid of confidence.
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Team News
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West Brom remain without Sam Johnstone and Alex Mowatt, who both serve the final game of their three-match bans.
Despite his limited options, Ismael may take the opportunity to hand Daryl Dike his first start after featuring for 31 minutes off the substitutes' bench at QPR.
Jonson Clarke-Harris appears likely to return to the Peterborough XI, potentially in place of Sammie Szmodics.
Frankie Kent could be handed a recall in the middle of the backline with Ronnie Edwards and Josh Knight both seeing their places at risk.
Ferguson must also decide whether recent arrival Steven Benda, who has joined on loan from Swansea City, deserves a chance ahead of first-choice goalkeeper David Cornell.
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Button; Furlong, Clarke, Townsend; Gardner-Hickman, Livermore, Molumby, Reach; Robinson, Dike, Grant
Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Cornell; Thompson, Kent, Edwards, Mumba; Taylor, Norburn, Burrows; Grant; Clarke-Harris, Dembele
We say: West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Peterborough United
Despite the difference in league positions, this feels like it could be a close game, and Peterborough will feel that they can take advantage of their opponent's poor form. However, we have to back West Brom to hold their nerve, possibly edging this contest in the closing stages when Posh may settle for a point.
Top tip
Darren Plant
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 West Bromwich Albion win with a probability of 63.68%. A draw had a probability of 20.9% and a win for Peterborough United had a probability of 15.42%.
The most likely scoreline for a West Bromwich Albion win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.63%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.51%) and 2-1 (9.84%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.94%), while for a Peterborough United win it was 0-1 (5.02%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 7.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that West Bromwich Albion would win this match.
