Manchester United vs West Bromwich Albion: Match Preview

-James Temlong

Manchester United lock horns with West Bromwich Albion on Saturday at 15:00 GMT, in a match that pits two pragmatic managers against each other. LVG, with his high possession style of play and Tony Pulis, who is best known for his emphasis on having a rock hard defence.

United are 4th on the league table and are going through a rough patch in front of goal recently, finding it tough to score goals, but have the joint best defensive record this season keeping seven clean sheets in eleven matches. Two goals in five matches including a cup tie that went into extra time and two previous premier league matches that ended goalless is a cause of concern to many United fans.

Meanwhile Tony Pulis' West Brom are 12th on the table and have not conceded in four of their past five Premier League away matches this season. Last season's encounter ended with the Baggies earning a 1-0 win at Old Trafford after a Chris Brunt set-piece took a wicked deflection from Jonas Olsson and snuck past David De Gea for the only goal of the game. West Brom's recent form against United has been pretty good. United have only won once against the Baggies in the last five Premier League encounters, losing twice at Old Trafford and drawing twice.

Manchester United’s BPL record vs West Brom

	Played	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals For	Goals Against
At Old Trafford	9	5	2	2	16	6
Overall	18	12	4	2	43	17

United will be without long term absentee Luke Shaw whose recovery from a double fracture will keep him out the foreseeable future. Antonio Valencia and James Wilson are doubtful with a foot injury and a minor knock respectively. Paddy McNair is also set to miss out. Former Reds Jonny Evans and Darren Fletcher are expected to play but ex-united goal keeper Ben Foster is out with a long term knee injury.

United will attempt to boss the game while West Brom will try to hit United on the break.  The key battle to watch out for will be Berahino and Rondon vs Smalling and his defensive partner. The combination of pace and power make the West Brom duo a formidable threat and the United defence must be wary of them.

Anthony Martial should continue as the lone striker but the player to watch has to be Wayne Rooney. With a much improved performance against CSKA Moscow, he will be looking to kick and build on his seven goals and four assist in his last seven starts against the Baggies. When Rooney plays well, United play well and when Rooney suffers, the team suffers too so the skipper will be looking to put in a captain's performance.

With United struggling for goals and West Brom being solid defensively, this looks like a tough match for the Red Devils. 

Prediction: 2-0 to Manchester United