LFC Scout Report: West Bromwich Albion

By Ben Hardy

Liverpool will be keen to forget their opening day defeat to West Brom as they face the Baggies in the reverse fixture at Anfield on Monday night. 

West Brom's 3-0 victory over Liverpool back in August kicked off an incredible run which saw the Midlands based team occupy a Champions League position in the early stages of the season.

Since then, Steve Clarke's team have found it difficult to replicate a similar run of results and now sit in a respectable ninth position, three points behind Liverpool. 

2013 has proved difficult for the Baggies so far and are currently on a run of five defeats from six, registering only one point this year and last weeks defeat to Tottenham only added to the disappointing run. 

In contrast, Liverpool have enjoyed a steady start since the turn of the year with the team very much heading in the right direction. 

Brenden Rogers has seen his team register two successive 2-2 draws with Man City and Arsenal and 11 points from their last six games gives the Reds the slightest chance of a top four finish. 

Since last weeks fixtures, plenty of Premier League players were involved in midweek internationals which saw Liverpool Captain Steven Gerrard play the full 90 minutes as England beat Brazil 2-1 at Wembley. 

Team News:

Despite his transfer deadline day debacle, Peter Odemwingie could be set for a surprise return to the team.

The Nigerian will have a lot to prove the West Brom faithful after trying to push through his move away from the club to QPR in the January window. 

Goran Popov will serve the first of his three match ban after spitting at Tottenham's Kyle Walker. The Macadonia international was shown a straight red card and has now apologised to the Spurs right back.

Positive news could see Youssouf Mulumbu returning to the squad for the first time since New Years Day after recovering from a knee injury. 

West Brom (from): Foster, Myhill, Daniels, Reid, Jones, Olsson, McAuley, Tamas, Ridgewell, Dorrans, Mulumbu, Yacob, Brunt, Morrison, Thomas, Long, Lukaku, Fortune, Odemwingie, Rosenberg, El Ghanassy, Nabi 

Key Players:

The quality of West Brom's strike force over the last few season's has no doubt aided their transition from relegation candidates to a team with top half aspirations. 

Last week, Steve Clarke opted to start both Romelu Lukaku and Shane Long against Tottenham and they looked lively before Popov's red card saw the partnership prematurely split. 

Lukaku, on loan from Chelsea, has nine goals to his name this season and the comparisons with Didier Drogba are becoming more and more apparent. 

The Belgium international is a huge presence in the box and his heading ability, combined with his hold up play and finishing could potentially see the teenager become a leading star in future years.  

The game will be shown live on Sky Sports 1 in the UK from 7 pm (local time). The Anfield Opinion will keep you up to date with all the post match action and opinions.