West Brom v Manchester City: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream, TV Info
A lot of the summer attention might have been on the Premier League title aspirations of the other main contenders, but as Manchester City become the last of that bunch to start their season, they’ll do so with a remarkable statistic in mind.
Each of the last five Premier League winners kicked off their successful campaign on a Monday night, and with the greatest of respect to West Bromwich Albion, City are our best hope of extending that to six.
They’ll have Raheem Sterling making his competitive debut for the club at The Hawthorns, with the talking having now finally stopped following his acrimonious switch from Liverpool.
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Making a somewhat quieter departure from the Reds was Rickie Lambert, and he’ll likely lead the line for Tony Pulis’ Baggies. The manager will hope that the erstwhile England man’s goals and the stability of having Pulis around from the beginning of the season will mean a stronger, more settled campaign and not another one that makes unwelcome eyes at relegation.
Date: Monday, 10 August 2015
Time: 8 p.m. BST / 3 p.m. EDT
Venue: The Hawthorns
TV Info: Sky Sports 1 / NBCSN
Live Stream: Sky Sports 1 / NBCSN
Pre-Season Form
West Brom
Lost 3-1 vs. Red Bull Salzburg
Lost 3-1 vs. Orlando City
Won 2-1 vs. Charleston Battery
Won 2-1 vs. Richmond Kickers
Won 4-1 vs. Swindon Town
Won 2-0 vs. Walsall
Won 4-0 vs. Bristol Rovers
Manchester City
Won 1-0 vs. Melbourne City
Drew 2-2 vs. Roma (City won on penalties)
Lost 4-1 vs. Real Madrid
Won 8-1 vs. Vietnam
Lost 4-2 vs. Stuttgart
Predicted Lineups
Following his misery on the bench at Liverpool, you’d have thought that Lambert would have sought assurances from Pulis about his amount of game time with West Brom. Although that might come under threat following the likely club record arrival of Salomon Rondon from Zenit St Petersburg—reported here by Sky Sports—he’ll surely start in attack here.
New signings James Chester and James McClean should make their debuts here too, with the former perhaps coming in for Gareth McAuley, who limped off in the friendly win over Swindon. Serge Gnabry wasn’t signed on loan from Arsenal in time to make his debut, while Ben Foster is still out with his ACL injury.
Given the calibre of opposition, Pulis might opt to draft in Claudio Yacob at the base of midfield and switch Saido Berahino wide right in a 4-3-3/4-5-1.
At City, the worrying sickness bug that struck down Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Samir Nasri last week seems to have subsided, and all three seem likely to be involved at The Hawthorns, but Aguero’s lack of match fitness might mean he starts on the bench.
The hamstring injury Fabian Delph suffered in pre-season keeps him on the sidelines, while Gael Clichy has an ankle problem, meaning that Aleksandar Kolarov will start at left-back.
All eyes will of course be on Sterling, who is likely to be seen coming in from the left in support of Wilfried Bony, who is likely to get at least an hour given Aguero’s fitness.
Key Players
West Brom: Darren Fletcher
If West Brom are going to get anything from this game, then you sense that they are going to do it by exposing a perceived weakness at the heart of the City midfield, which will miss Delph in games such as this.
Club captain Darren Fletcher is now thankfully over the illness that threatened his career, and having quickly assumed a leadership role following his move from Manchester United in January, his energy and industry in the centre of the pitch are going to be crucial for the hosts.
Manchester City: Eliaquim Mangala
French centre-back Eliaquim Mangala has had an erratic start to his City career, and nothing that he did in pre-season will have filled his club’s fans with too much confidence.
Seeking a much smoother second campaign in England, the former Porto man is likely to be targeted both by Lambert in the traditional No. 9 role and Berahino running off him if he starts out wide.
City’s summer featured far too many defensive errors for comfort, and plenty of eyes will be on Mangala and Vincent Kompany to cut them out here.
Key Battle: Craig Dawson vs. Raheem Sterling
Nominally a centre-back, Craig Dawson has been utilised effectively by Tony Pulis as a right-back for the majority of the Welshman’s time in charge at The Hawthorns. This is partly because of a lack of available alternatives but also because of the former England under-21 man’s defensive intelligence and positioning.
City might see his area as one that Sterling will get some joy in on his debut for his new club. If Dawson can keep the £49 million man quiet, then Manuel Pellegrini might be forced to call on Aguero from the bench a little earlier than he would like.
Best Odds (via Oddschecker)
West Brom: 5-1
Manchester City: 7-10
Draw: 31-10
Sterling to score at any time: 12-5
