West Bromwich Albion vs Manchester City Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

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Joel Amorim Aug 08, 2015 @ 02:39 am

Next Monday, 10th of August 2015, the all-powerful Manchester City will travel to the West Midlands to measure forces with West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns for the first match of round 1 of the English Premier League.

Manchester City have announced yesterday that they will be extending Manuel Pellegrini’s contract, something that indicates that the team’s board is both satisfied with his work and doesn’t have any short term intention of bringing in Pep Guardiola to take the team’s reins.

The Citizens had some ups and downs during the pre-season matches and last weekend’s 4-2 defeat against VfB Stuttgart was somehow unexpected. Later last month, before hammering the fragile Vietnamese National Team 8-1, Manchester City wasn’t strong enough to upset Real Madrid and ended up being defeated 4-1.

The Citizens spent big once again this summer, as they paid Liverpool an unbelievable amount for Raheem Sterling’s signing. According to the media, the former EPL champions paid £44 million with a further potential of £5 million in add-ons, which is an almost surreal amount for someone who is just 20 years old. Another important summer signing was former Aston Villa’s midfielder, Fabian Delph, who joined Manchester City on a five-year deal for a reported fee of £8 million.

Last season, The Sky Blues didn’t experience any major problems during their visit to The Hawthorns and if they manage to replicate what they did back in December, they will probably secure the three points quite easily.

As for West Brom, the Baggies finished in the 13th place of the table last season with 44 points from 38 matches, but they have gone through several ups and downs during the campaign. The arrival of the charismatic Welsh manager Tony Pulis earlier in January brought, nevertheless, significant improvements to the team.

Rickie Lambert, who arrived from Liverpool this summer, will certainly be of good use for Tony Pulis this season in a desperate attempt to improve the team’s goal tally, which was considerably low last term.

West Brom’s home record against Manchester City is not particularly impressive, since the last time they overcame the Citizens was already back in 2010 for a Carling Cup match.

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