West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa are looking for a way back into the Premier League, and the first step is Tuesday's match at The Hawthorns, the second leg of the Championship Playoff semi-finals. Aston Villa have snatched a 2-1 victory in the first leg, Dwight Gayle opened the scoring for West Brom after just 16 minutes but Conor Hourihane and Tammy Abraham scored in the second half for the home side. In the regular season West Brom were better in the direct matches, they drew 2-2 at home before collecting a 2-0 victory at Villa Park. Overall, the last six direct matches in all competitions produced two victories apiece and two draws.
West Bromwich Albion could return to the Premier League after just one season, but first they would need to turn things around in the semi-final tie against Aston Villa. West Brom finished fourth in the Championship this season, nine points behind second-placed Sheffield United and 14 behind leaders Norwich, mainly because they conceded a lot of goals throughout the season. In fact, they let in 62 goals in the regular season, more than any other team in the top six. They have kept just one clean sheet in their last seven matches, and they really could use on in Tuesday's game. They have serious problems in attack as well as strikers Dwight Gayle and Hal Robson-Kanu are both suspended, leaving Jay Rodriguez as the only option for manager James Shan. Gareth Barry is unavailable due to an injury.
Aston Villa have spent the least three years outside of the Premier League and they are desperate to get back to the main stage of English football. Last season they finished fourth in the Championship, qualified for the Playoff final, but then lost 1-0 to Fulham at Wembley and missed out on promotion. This time they finished fifth in the Championship, four points behind West Brom, and now they are ready to give the Playoff final another go. The advantage they have gained in the first leg is rather slim, but they should be fine as long as they can score in Tuesday's game, as they have done in their last fourteen matches. Orjan Nyland is the only injury worry for manager Dean Smith.
Probable line-ups:
West Brom: Johnstone - Holgate, Bartley, Hegazi - Mears, Brunt, Johansen, Gibbs - Phillips, Rodriguez, Murphy
Aston Villa: Steer - El Mohamady, Tuanzebe, Mings, Taylor - Hourihane - Green, McGinn, Grealish, Ghazi - Abraham
My prediction: 1-1 draw, Aston Villa should be able to score and hold on to their advantage.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
West Brom win - 2.60
Draw - 3.50
Aston Villa win - 2.55
05/14/19, 02:05:11 PM
