West Brom v Chelsea: Pulis will relish the chance to spoil Conte's party

West Brom v Chelsea
Friday 12 May, 20:00
Live on Sky Sports 1

West Brom

Since hitting the 40-point mark in mid-February, West Brom have been on an awful run of form, picking up just five points from a possible 27. Adding further woe for the Baggies faithful, Tony Pulis' men recently went five games without scoring a goal. That run, coinciding with four straight defeats, was ended with the 2-2 draw at Turf Moor on Saturday - no easy feat considering Burnley's home record.

The Baggies still cling on to eighth place with just three games remaining in the season, largely thanks to their excellent form early on, but with just five points separating them from 15th place they know they must pick up more to avoid letting what looked like such a promising season end with a whimper.

The injured Matt Phillips and Hal Robson-Kanu are the only expected absentees.

Chelsea

One of the defining features of Chelsea's success this season has been their 'bouncebackability'. Early defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal were met with a change of system and a winning run of 13 games. The 2-0 reverse at White Hart Lane in January was overcome by a further eight undefeated. A loss to Manchester United last month - which saw Tottenham move to within four points - was followed by victory over Mauricio Pochettino's side in the FA Cup and three more convincing league wins.

The most recent in that run was a comfortable 3-0 win over Middlesbrough on Monday. The result - thanks to goals from Diego Costa, Marcos Alonso and Nemanja Matic - saw Boro relegated and the Blues move to within three points of a deserved Premier League title.

As has been the case for most of this season, Antonio Conte heads into this one with no injury concerns.

Match Odds

One imagines there is nothing that Tony Pulis would like more than to spoil Conte's party on Friday. The Welshman, alongside the likes of Sam Allardyce and Sean Dyche, embodies that certain type of British manager who will probably never be given the chance to manage one of the biggest clubs but nonetheless knows how to set up his team to cause an upset when pitted against them (and knows how to gloat in the aftermath).

But it comes down to a question of which West Brom side turn up on Friday. Pulis' teams also have a tendency to roll over against the top sides and his team have shown little interest in winning since hitting that 40 point mark.

Nevertheless, a Friday night fixture - the undoing of Tottenham last weekend - with Chelsea and their expensively imported manager needing a win to secure the title... the ingredients are certainly there for a Pulis special.

West Brom can be backed at 10.50 to pull off a win, while the Blues are firm favourites at 1.38 and the draw can be backed at 5.30.

Handicap

While it may be a bit of a stretch to predict a Baggies win on Friday, there is certainly value in opposing Chelsea to win with ease.

West Brom have won three of the last five against the Blues at home and only three sides - Manchester City (4-0), Manchester United (2-0) and a then-in-form Crystal Palace (2-0) - have gone to the Hawthorns and won by more than one goal this season. The Blues have only won six of their 18 away games by two goals or more this season and have two easy home games - against Watford and Sunderland - coming up to secure the title win which could allow a bit of complacency to sneak in here.

West Brom therefore look good value to win with a handicap of +2 if odds hit 1.80 or above on the Exchange (failing that, they are currently available at the equivalent 4/5 on the Sportsbook).

First Goalscorer

Diego Costa has scored in three of his past five games against West Brom and equalled his best ever Premier League goals tally after a run of three in three games. You can back him to open the scoring on Friday at odds of 3.70.

Recommended Bets

Back West Brom +2 @ 1.80