Potential title party at the Hawthorns
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Having comfortably defeated Middlesbrough on Monday night, following Tottenham Hotspur’s defeat to West Ham United, Chelsea are now just one win away from claiming the Premier League trophy in Antonio Conte’s first season in charge.
There isn’t any better motivation for a team than the title whereas their opponents, West Bromwich Albion, must find their motivation from within. The Baggies have nothing to play for as the season ends and cannot finish any higher than their current league position of 8th.
However, trends show Tony Pulis’ team have won just one of their previous nine Premier League games and although they cannot climb any higher in the table, they can certainly drop lower. If they fail to win their remaining two Premier League games, West Brom could end what was a promising season, down in the bottom half of the table.
At home, West Brom have lost their last three Premier League games, all by the same 1-0 scoreline. The defeats have come against Southampton, Liverpool and Leicester City. Pulis would have been expecting at least 6 points from those three games and this underlines West Brom’s poor form heading into this match.
Not only have West Brom struggled for points at home, trends show they have failed to score in four of their last five home Premier League games. The fans have been starved of goals at the Hawthorns recently.
Chelsea have no such concerns and travel to the midlands having won their previous four matches. One of those wins came in the FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur and the other three were all in the Premier League.
The victories over Southampton, Everton and Middlesbrough have edged Chelsea closer to the title. The match against Everton was supposed to be the biggest test of their final fixtures but Conte’s team breezed through the match, winning it 3-0.
Trends show Chelsea are unbeaten in seven of their last eight away matches in the Premier League, with the only defeat coming at the hands of Manchester United. All they must do is extended that run by adding a win at the Hawthorns and the title will be heading back to Stamford Bridge.
Having been on a run which saw their defence struggle to keep a clean sheet, Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in their last two Premier League games and with their attacking talent, know one more clean sheet should be enough to see them win the league.
Looking at the team news and Jonny Evans is a doubt for West Brom having picked up an injury against Burnley on the weekend. Both Matt Phillips and Hal Robson-Kanu remain on the sidelines.
Chelsea’s N'Golo Kante missed the game against Middlesbrough but is expected to make a return to the squad for this game. The French midfielder is Conte’s only injury concern ahead of this match.
With Chelsea making a return to form and their defence keeping clean sheets, there can only be one winner in this game. West Brom are lacking in confidence at home and with the Premier League title in reach, Chelsea could win this game comfortably, without a conceding a goal.
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