Liverpool vs. West Brom: 6 Reasons Liverpool Will Beat the Baggies at Anfield

Liverpool host West Brom at Anfield in the Premier League this weekend. The Reds have been on a recent mini-resurgence which has seen them win two matches late on against Blackburn Rovers in the league and Everton in the FA Cup semifinal, both thanks to headed goals from Andy Carroll.

Here we take a look at six reasons why the Reds will continue their improved form, including the aforementioned No. 9 striker.

Earlier in the season, Liverpool ran out 2-0 winners at The Hawthorns thanks to a Charlie Adam penalty and a goal on the stroke of half time from Carroll.

Andy Carroll's Increased Confidence

We've heard for much of the season how Andy Carroll has been lacking in fitness, confidence, backing from the manager and any number of things. Plainly, the real reason for his lack of form and goals was that he was not working hard enough.

Missing chances and not getting through the required amount of running for the team was leading Carroll into a downward spiral of less game time and a poor image of him from fans and media alike.

Two goals in his last two starts, however, coupled with a much better all-round threat during the match, has seen Carroll win both matches with telling headers late on and his confidence will have sky-rocketed as a result.

Carroll must surely be a shoe-in to start against West Brom, who he has already scored against this season, and he will be going all-out to make it three in three which would be far and away his best scoring run for the Reds since signing 15 months ago.

The Return of Pepe Reina

Pepe Reina might or might not read Bleacher Report, the official Liverpool FC forums or any number of other internet-based fan comment sections, but you can be pretty sure that one way or another he will be aware of the growing feeling that he has not been at his best this term, and that Kopites are exceptionally pleased, proud and grateful to Brad Jones for his contributions recently.

Reina needs to step up over the remainder of the season, and prove that he is still the king between the sticks for Liverpool.

Nobody is for a minute suggesting Alexander Doni or Jones are seriously better than Reina, but there have been suggestions that the Spaniard's place is too secure and he needs a kick up the backside to get him back to form.

Perhaps his three match suspension, now completed, will turn out to be just that and Pepe can get back to being the best keeper in the land.

Pour the Misery onto the Blue Half of Merseyside

For a couple of weeks, the Lesser-Spotted Everton Supporter came out of hiding and began crowing about how the tide was turning on Merseyside, that the blues had become the better team and that both League and Cup were about to reflect that "fact".

Sadly for them, a weak surrender from a leading vantage point in the FA Cup semifinal put paid to any hopes of trophy glory at the expense of Liverpool that they had, while this week could also see the positions in the Premier League table reversed.

Currently seventh and one point ahead of Liverpool, Everton will travel to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United just a few hours before the Reds play West Brom at home.

Given the league leaders' recent form it would not be too other-worldly to suggest a home win might be on the cards there, which means that by the end of play on Sunday Liverpool could leap-frog Everton with even a draw, though a victory would take them two points clear of their rivals.

So much for a turn of the tide.

FA Cup Final Places Are at Stake

Dirk Kuyt, Maxi Rodriguez, Jay Spearing, Jonjo Shelvey, Martin Kelly, Jamie Carragher and even Jose Enrique—none of them are assured of a starting role in the match that everybody wants to play in, the FA Cup Final.

A little over two weeks from now, Liverpool will walk out at Wembley for a third time this season, this time to face Chelsea in a bid for a domestic cup double.

A common factor in the end-of-season run-in for teams with nothing to play for is that performance's can drop off—that should not be an issue for Liverpool and if it is, then those players can be firmly penned in for substitutes roles on the big day.

Liverpool Need to Start Picking Up Wins at Anfield Again

Nine draws from 16 home Premier League matches this season tells its own story of Liverpool's campaign.

Too many dropped points at Anfield has been a massive contributor to the Reds not being able to fight for a Champions League berth at this stage of the season.

It won't count for an awful lot now, but if Liverpool can finish the season strongly with three home wins then they will at least have made sure that Anfield is a difficult place to come and win over the course of the season, with only two defeats there so far.

Nine wins from 19 won't be the best record ever, but at least it would help end the campaign on a positive note.

Daniel Agger Can Move Back to Central Defence

It's an open secret that Jamie Carragher's best days are passed him now, and Liverpool's strongest central defensive partnership is Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger.

With the latter having returned from injury to feature at left-back for the past three matches, he can now be eased back into his preferred role by Kenny Dalglish at the expense of Carragher, who has been unable to regain his commanding best form.

From here on until the end of season, Agger and Skrtel should be Liverpool's back two in front of Pepe Reina—and that will go some way to clearing up the glut of preventable goals the Reds have conceded over the past month or two.