Ahead of the clash at The Etihad tomorrow evening, we spoke to Alex Newton, editor of our sister site Read West Brom. We asked him questions on Albion’s season so far, City’s campaign and of course his prediction for tomorrow’s match.
How would you sum up West Brom’s season?
Very average, it’s been a very middle of the road season for Albion with us possessing too much quality to go down but not enough to break the top seven of the league. We’ve reached the magic 40 points total which would have been our main goal this season the next step is to look at beating our club record of 48 points in a Premier League season.
In recent weeks, West Brom have beaten Manchester United, drawn with league leaders Leicester yet lost at home to lowly Norwich. Should City be worried by those results?
Albion always seem to do better against teams who are in the top half of the table. Our defence is strong and this can frustrate teams who have an array of attacking talent. If it gets to half-time and it’s 0-0 City could panic and be caught on the counter-attack and their defensive problems have been exposed in recent weeks.
Who has been the standout player this season?
This season has been more about team performances than stand out stars at The Hawthorns. There’s a real togetherness in the team but two players who have stood out for me are Salomon Rondon and Jonny Evans. Rondon became the club’s record signing and took some time to settle in but now looks set to hit double figures in his first season in England. Jonny Evans has shown his experience in leading the Albion back line. The former Champions League winner has been superb at the back and has easily saved us 8-10 points this season.
Which City player do you fear the most?
Bar the obvious choice of Sergio Aguero, the returning Kevin De Bruyne is the one that worries me the most. His pace and skill combined could trouble a slow Albion defence. He’s really impressed me at how he’s adapted to life in England so quickly.
How big of a miss will Chris Brunt be for the rest of the campaign?
A huge one. He’d been playing in an unnatural left-back position but adapted well. The problem now is our lack of natural full-backs at the club. Evans has now moved across to the left while the hit and miss Jonas Olsson has come in at centre back.
And finally, a score prediction, please.
As much as my heart says we can get a draw I think City will have too much for us.
Manchester City 2 (De Bruyne, Aguero)
West Brom 1 (Rondon)
