Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion Prediction - City cannot afford to drop points

Manuel Pellegrini’s men have made things really difficult for themselves. They have quite literally thrown away the Premier League title, which until a week ago was theirs to lose. After the loss against Liverpool, they still had a chance with their 2 games in hand. But the midweek draw against Sunderland has not only put the title firmly in the hands of Liverpool, they could even end up finishing 3^rd in the league standings, which would certainly be seen as a failed season, with only the Capital One cup to show for all the millions spent on players in the summer.

West Bromwich Albion have had a turn of fortunes of late, having lost only once in the last 5 games. However, it is not so much losing games that has been the problem for them but the inability to convert draws into wins. Of the 33 games they have played, they have only lost 12 games which is the same number as Southampton, who currently sit in 8^th place. But at the same time, they have only won 6 of their games, drawing a whopping 15 games, which is just less than half of the total number of games they have played so far.

For both teams, this will an important game, as both teams need the 3 points to make headway for their respective ambitions. Manchester City, to have any chance of winning the title, will need to win every one of its remaining 5 games and cannot afford to drop even a single point. West Brom, teetering at a very dangerous 16^th place on the table, need to get as many points as possible to avoid relegation. On paper, one would expect Manchester City to be able to win this game easily, but the games against Sunderland has shown that West Brom can still hope for a point in the least.

Injuries

For Manchester City, David Silva is set to shake off his injury and return for the West Brom game. However, Pellegrini will have to do without Yaya Toure, who hasn’t quite recovered from the Liverpool injury. Nastasic is the other long term absentee.

For West Brom, Zolton Gera is still out with his long term injury but Olsson and Morrison are scheduled to have late fitness tests to determine whether they will be fit enough to face Manchester City at the Etihad stadium.

Head to Head

Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion have played each other a total of 136 times, and no one team has dominated in the matches against each other. City have won 57 of these games while West Brom notched 51 victories, but all that will mean nothing as the stakes are high and Manchester City is a completely different monster to any of its predecessors.

Form

Manchester City – DLWDW

West Bromwich Albion – DWDLW

Prediction – Manchester City 2-1 West Brom

As stated earlier, on paper Manchester City has certainly looked the stronger side, but have been faltering off late, something akin to what Arsenal usually does every year in the months of February and March. While West Brom can certainly take heart from Sunderland’s draw against the Manchester club, it will be a very difficult proposition to even eke out a draw.