West Bromwich Albion vs Manchester United Preview: Baggies seek fourth successive home win

Match preview of Saturday evening's Premier League clash between West Bromwich Albion and Manchester United at The Hawthorns.

West Bromwich Albion vs Manchester United Preview: Baggies seek fourth successive home win
neil-leverett
By Neil Leverett

West Bromwich Albion will look to record their fourth successive Premier League victory at The Hawthorns, as Manchester United come to town.

The Baggies come into the game having won 3-1 against Swansea City on Wednesday night, where a 13-minute Salomon Rondon hat-trick - his first for the club - disposed of Bob Bradley's travelling Swans.

The Venezuelan will have his eye firmly set on this weekend's visitors, having scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win when the two sides met back in March.

Tony Pulis' men continue to play a more unlikely brand of football, with the Welshman opting to revert from a 4-5-1 formation to a now classic top-flight 4-2-3-1 system. The return of Chris Brunt to a more familiar midfield role has paid handsome dividends for the hosts in recent weeks.

Mourinho looks to lay marker down

Jose Mourinho brings his Red Devils to town also seeking to lay down a mark, aiming to the record a three back-to-back league wins for the first time this campaign.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's winner versus Crystal Palace on Wednesday night, was the Swede's ninth goal this term and the 35 year-old will be intent on getting to grips with a typically bullish Baggies side.

Baggies seek reversal of dominant record

In the Premier League era, West Brom and Manchester United have met 20 times in the top flight.

Saturday's visitors dominate the statistics with 13 win in total. The most recent clashes however - most pertinently last March at The Hawthorns - have seen the Baggies begin to buck that trend.

As Pulis seeks to once again make their home territory in the West Midlands a fortress, a second win in a row versus the travelling Red Devils will begin to set that statistic right.

Perhaps the most memorable clash came on the final day of the 2012/13 league campaign, where a Romelu Lukaku hat-trick earned a point a in 5-5 league classic - The Baggies coming from 5-2 down with ten minutes to play to snatch a point.

Team news

Defender Craig Dawson returns from suspension having missed the game against The Swans on Wednesday night. Former United man Jonny Evans is also set to make his comeback from a calf problem.

The duo of Boaz Myhill and Saido Berahino are continued absentees, with ankle and fitness concerns.

For the visitors, defender Antonio Valencia returns from suspension, whilst Chris Smalling should be passed fit to take to his place after a broken toe. Eric Bailly and Luke Shaw are both absent.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is set to return on Boxing Day from an ankle injury.