---
title: "Match Preview: vs. West Brom"
canonical: "https://readastonvilla.com/2015/03/03/match-preview-vs-west-brom/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Ed Payne"
section: "Aston Villa Match Previews"
published: "2015-03-03T17:00:20Z"
modified: "2015-03-03T17:01:03Z"
---

# Match Preview: vs. West Brom

Aston Villa head into Tuesday’s derby with West Bromwich Albion off the back of two very disappointing defeats against teams we should have managed at least a point from.

Saturday again ended up in disappointment for Tim Sherwood’s men, as Papiss Cisse gave Newcastle the three points in the first half. In all honesty, we probably deserved at least a draw from the game as we put pressure on the Newcastle goal, but couldn’t find the key to unlock the Tim Krul door, which stood firm no matter how hard we tried to break it down.

Onto West Bromwich Albion, who are currently enjoying an uplift in form since the appointment of Tony Pulis as manager. Tony Pulis was appointed on the 1st of January 2015, replacing the inept Alan Irvine, a move that would have been very popular amongst the Villa faithful.

West Brom’s position before the Pulis era was far from promising, as they were likely to be fighting a relegation battle at the end of the season. However, the former-Stoke boss has turned things around at the Hawthorns, as they have triumphed in their last 3 out of 5 games, they have tied the other two contests. Now if that made you feel slightly dejected for tonight, then West Brom’s recent defensive record is not going to cheer you up. Out of Pulis’ 7 league games so far they have 5 clean sheets. So, the quest for our team to score may continue onto the next match, and probably the one after that. Pulis has also got the partnership of Brown Ideye and Saido Berahino firing. Brown Ideye was labelled one of the flops of the season, as he initially struggled under the guidance of former manager Alan Irvine, however the arrival of Pulis has reinvigorated him. However, if there is one ray of light at the end of tunnel then it is that West Brom under Tony Pulis are yet to win away from home. However, Villa Park has become a popular ground for teams to break sequences such as those.

Let’s take a look at our recent home form against West Brom:

2013/2014- Aston Villa 4-3 West Brom

2012/2013- Aston Villa 1-1 West Brom

2011/2012- Aston Villa 1-2 West Brom

2010/2011- Aston Villa 2-1 West Brom

2008/2009- Aston Villa 2-1 West Brom

We actually have a very good record against WBA at Villa Park in recent times, with the only blot on the copybook coming in the horrendous Mcleish season. In fact, last seasons 4-3 rollercoaster game was probably our best performance of last season. Let’s hope our positive run of form against WBA at home continues!

Now onto the home side, Aston Villa. How on earth are we going to get out of the mess we currently find ourselves in? I can honestly say I have no idea. Against Newcastle we failed to convert good chances into goals, although Tim Krul played excellently. Also, we are still susceptible to make the same costly mistakes that were made under Paul Lambert, Okore’s failure to clear at the back is a prime example of this. The team at Newcastle did bring a surprise to many, Lowton deputised at left back in place of the injured pairing of Cissokho and Richardson. Lowton is set to continue at left back with the pairing ruled out for tonight’s derby. One notable omission from the Newcastle game was Carles Gil. The tricky midfielder had been one of our better players in recent weeks but found himself on the bench for the Newcastle game, does he come back in for Tuesday? Other than that, what can Sherwood do? The lack of decent options in our squad is startling and a big cause for concern.

The nightmare run of April fixtures are looming large around the corner and it’s more important than ever that we show enough fight to stay up. It’s time for Sherwood and the players show they have the ability to play in the top tier of English football.