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West Bromwich Albion v Manchester City
The Hawthorns, West Bromwich. 22nd January 2005, 5.15pm.
18th January 2005
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Position 20th 9th
Form L D D D W L L D W D L W
Last Match Fulham (A) 0-1 Crystal Palace (H) 3-1
Last Meeting
28th December 2004		 Manchester City 1 (Anelka 32)
West Bromwich Albion 1 (Dunne o.g. 85)
Last Baggies win in this fixture was 4-0 on 8th September 2001
City visited the Hawthorns as unbeaten leaders of Division One and were promptly thumped with two goals from Neil Clement, a free kick and a penalty, and one each from Derek McInnes and Scott Dobie. City went on to be champions with Albion finishing runners-up.
After the undeserved defeat at Fulham last Sunday, Albion go into the game against Manchester City in desperate need of a win. They can take heart from the performance at Craven Cottage, if not the result, and if you're looking for omens, Albion's only league victory this season came in a televised 5.15pm kick off at the Hawthorns.

OK, that may be clutching at straws a little, but I saw real signs for hope against Fulham, even though the result didn't go for us. I thought that Campbell and Earnshaw linked well up front, Johnson and Wallwork looked comfortable and dominated the game in the middle of the park and, Clement's lapse notwithstanding, the back four looked as solid as they have done all season. I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but it's a blow that AJ is out for three weeks - he seemed to have rediscovered some form at the Cottage, and Pop's toughest selection decision will be who to replace him with.

As for Man City, it will depend on which City turns up. Will it be the one that has beaten Chelsea at Eastlands, or the one that lost to Oldham? It was just three weeks ago that Albion earned an unlikely point at City, a point which kick-started Albion's mini-revival. Albion defended exceptionally well that day, and a similar solid performance from the back four will be required once again. On their day, Wright-Phillips, Anelka, Fowler and Sibierski can cause real problems for any defence. Fowler, in particular, was in excellent form in City's 3-1 win over Palace, and we all know what Shaun Wright-Phillips can do.

Anelka is rumoured to be on his way out of Manchester, with Turkish giants Fenerbahce the latest club to be linked with the former Arsenal striker, but he has not played since New Year's Day through injury. There may be more good news for the Baggies in that both Robbie Fowler and Antoine Sibierski missed training on Tuesday - Keegan hopes they will be both fit for Saturday, but if those two don't make it, that will be three big players that City will be missing for the trip to the Shrine.

Depending on how the other results go on Saturday afternoon, this may not be a must-win game. Our three main rivals all have tough home games with Palace at home to Spurs, Southampton at home to Liverpool and Norwich at home to Boro'. Should they all lose, a win would take us off the bottom, but a draw would not be a bad result; should they all pick up points, a win will be crucial. For me, it's the next three league games that we must win - win all three of those and we could easily find ourselves in that sacred 17th spot.

But going back to Saturday's game, with AJ out, I'd be tempted to play a more attacking line-up with Wallwork sitting in front of the back four. I'd play Koumas in place of Gera, who looked out of sorts at Fulham, and put Kanu in behind the front two. It's probably a little radical, but I don't really see many other options in midfield at the moment. You could argue that Gera might add a little more steel that Koumas, but none of the other defensive midfield options that have been used this season, such as Haas, Gaardsoe and Scimeca, have looked comfortable in that position. I suppose the only other option would be to move Clem into midfield and put Gaardsoe, or Big Dave if he's fit, into central defence - I'd refrain from that move purely because the back four have looked excellent in the past few games.

My team would be as follows:

Hoult; Albrechtsen, Purse, Clement, Robinson; Koumas, Wallwork, Greening; Kanu; Earnshaw, Campbell.

However, I think Robson will either play Scimeca in place of Johnson (which would be a big mistake in my book), or if Big Dave is fit, bring him in and put Clem in midfield.


Jon Want, 18th January 2005.
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