West Brom vs Chelsea Betting Pick | English Premier

English Premier

2012-03-03 - West Brom vs Chelsea

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

West Brom v Chelsea
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 3 March 2012 - Kick Off 3pm

West Brom

West Brom are enjoying a very productive period, with the fans over the moon at a recent 1-5 win at local rivals Wolves, and the management getting the best out of a side that is close to securing another season in the Premier League. Roy Hodgson would have been a top candidate for the vacant England manager job if his time at Liverpool can be removed from his CV, and he continues working miracles at 'less-fashionable' clubs after his time at Fulham.

The Baggies have boing-boinged their way up to 13th in the Premier League table in the last few weeks, and they are now 11 points clear of the relegation zone. It is likely they need around 8 more points from their final 12 games to ensure survival, although some fans will be dreaming about a top half finish. Surprisingly, the team have struggled at the Hawthornes this season, going 3-2-8 so far, scoring 13 goals and conceding 16.

Struggling for goals has been a problem for the side for much of the season at home, but they may have turned a corner by scoring 9 in their last 2 League games, including 4 in a rout against Sunderland last week. West Brom had lost 5 of their previous 6 home League games before the win over Sunderland last week, although the one they avoided defeat against was Manchester City in that run.

Peter Odemwingie will continue to lead the line as he is in a rich vein of form. However, Chris Brunt, Jerome Thomas and Paul Scharner are all doubtful.

Chelsea

Andre Villa-Boas told the Portuguese press this week that he is fearful that Roman Abramovich will remove him as manager after a disappointing season so far at Stamford Bridge. There are clearly some frictions in the squad as David Luiz allegedly criticised the behaviour of Frank Lampard after his recent omissions from the starting line up, while rumours persist that the old and new faces are at loggerheads in the dressing room.

Chelsea need to stick together if they are to at least make it back to the Champions League, while they still have a chance for silverware in the forms of the FA Cup and Champions League. The Blues are currently 5th in the Premier League, being edged out by Arsenal for the final Champions League place. They take a 5-5-3 record to the Hawthornes this week, having scored 17 goals in those games and conceded just 12.

They recorded an important 3-0 win over Bolton Wanderers at home last weekend, their first victory in 6 games in all competitions, while they had lost 2 of their last 3 games before that win. Chelsea have won just 2 of their last 8 away games in all competitions, and come into this one off back to back defeats on their travels. They have won just 1 of their last 6 away games in the League.

John Terry will be missing, while Jose Bosingwa is a doubt. Didier Drogba is another doubt, so Fernando Torres may be given another chance to impress up front.

Head to Head

If I remember correctly, Chelsea were not in great form when visiting here last season, but they came away with a 1-3 win despite falling 1-0 behind.

Earlier this season, they were also 0-1 down at home against the Baggies, but forced a 2-1 win.

Those results mean Chelsea have won 13 consecutive games against West Brom in all competitions, including on their last 5 visits to the Hawthornes.

Prediction

I really do appreciate the record that Chelsea have against West Brom, but they have not looked good away from home all season and they just don't seem to be scoring enough goals to justify them being odds on to win this game at many places.

West Brom will make life tough for the away side and I think they could end their run of defeats here to Chelsea if they have a little luck. They have led in the last two games against the Blues but have not been able to get over the hump and earn a result, but I have a feeling they may this time.

With goals finally flowing, I think the Baggies are full of confidence and I am going to back them on the handicap to avoid defeat in this one.

Chelsea have only scored more than 1 goal in 1 of their last 8 away games in all competitions and I think they will need to do that if they are to get a win here. It's very possible that West Brom can even surprise the Blues for the win if they truly believe, but the record against Chelsea makes me think they could be a little unsure and perhaps do well to earn a result.

I just think the Chelsea side have been a little over-rated after one win against Bolton, and I don't think they justify being odds on to win anywhere at the moment. They have failed to win at Wigan, Norwich City and Swansea since the beginning of December, and I feel West Brom are in as good a form as those sides right now.

At odds against, I will at least try the Baggies to earn something from this game.

The Statistics :

WBA LAST SIX HOME FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2012-02-25	W	4-0	H v Sunderland
	2012-02-04	L	1-2	H v Swansea
	2012-01-14	L	1-2	H v Norwich
	2012-01-01	L	0-1	H v Everton
	2011-12-26	D	0-0	H v Man_City
	2011-12-10	L	1-2	H v Wigan

CHELSEA LAST SIX AWAY FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2012-02-11	L	2-0	A v Everton
	2012-01-31	D	1-1	A v Swansea
	2012-01-21	D	0-0	A v Norwich
	2012-01-02	W	1-2	A v Wolves
	2011-12-22	D	1-1	A v Tottenham
	2011-12-17	D	1-1	A v Wigan