Manchester United vs. West Brom: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info
April 14, 2018
Manchester United could confirm West Bromwich Albion's relegation from the Premier League on Sunday if they seal a sixth successive top-flight victory.
Crystal Palace, Huddersfield Town and Swansea City would also need to respectively beat Brighton & Hove Albion, Watford and Everton on Saturday in order for the Baggies to be the first team relegated to the Championship this season. They are 10 points adrift of safety with five games remaining.
With that in mind, a trip to Old Trafford is far from West Brom's ideal scenario considering the Red Devils' only defeat at home this season came at the hands of champions-elect Manchester City.
The Baggies managed to snatch a point from United at Old Trafford last April, drawing 0-0, and West Brom caretaker manager Darren Moore will be boosted by the fact his side have lost only once in their past four league trips to face the Red Devils.
Date: Sunday, April 15
Time: 4 p.m. BST/11 a.m. ET
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester
Live Stream: Sky Go app (UK), NBC Live Extra (U.S.)
TV Info: Sky Sports Premier League (UK), NBCSN (U.S.)
Team News
United manager Jose Mourinho will likely be content with the options at his disposal, with only a selection of fringe players in doubt for Sunday's game.
Injury analyst Ben Dinnery recently provided an update that suggested reserve goalkeeper Sergio Romero remains out of action, while Ander Herrera, Phil Jones and Daley Blind's fitness remains questionable:
Meanwhile, West Brom director of performance Mark Gillett recently told the media 19-year-old midfielder Sam Field and Nacer Chadli—who has been hampered by setbacks this season—will be fit: "We can be optimistic Sam and Nacer will be available for selection at Old Trafford. There were no issues at Brighton, and the pair will continue in full training this week."
That same report hinted Daniel Sturridge won't be fit but is aiming to return to training in the days following the game, while there are also questions over star centre-back Jonny Evans' availability, per PhysioRoom.com:
Gareth Barry is expected to be out for the rest of the season following knee surgery, and James Morrison's absence from the team looks set to continue because of an Achilles injury.
Preview
Things look bleak for West Brom entering the final phase of the 2017-18 campaign, and the wrong set of results could seal their fate.
However, they are set to come up against a team that shouldn't be performing as well as their second-place status suggests, according to statistician Simon Gleave:
Simon Gleave @SimonGleaveANALYSIS: If the Premier League table was based on Expected Goals it would look like this.... In terms of points, #Burnleyfc and Manchester United are massively overperforming Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur and West Brom are massively underperforming #mufc #cpfc#thfc #wbafc https://t.co/nYVxcL7w0K
United's home form has provided a backbone to their campaign—they have won 41 points at Old Trafford compared to 30 points away from home—and they have conceded a Premier League-low seven goals on their own soil.
West Brom, on the other hand, recently drew 1-1 against Swansea City to clinch their first Premier League point in 10 outings. Match of the Day pundit Martin Keown recently predicted the worst could be yet to come for the Baggies:
If the showing against Swansea was the first signal Moore could lead the team to any kind of improvement, he needs to coax a boatload more from his players if they are to record an upset on Sunday.