Southampton and West Brom meet at St Mary’s on Friday in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final in a finely poised tie.
Neither side was able to claim a lead in the first meeting at the Hawthorns as the game finished goalless, a result which gives Southampton an edge as they have home advantage as they bid to secure an immediate return to the Premier League.
- SOUTHAMPTON TO WIN
- ADAM ARMSTRONG TO SCORE ANYTIME
- DARNELL FURLONG TO BE BOOKED
Home Advantage Key For Saints
These two sides cancelled each other out in a cagey first leg and that goalless result favours Southampton now they have home advantage for the second meeting.
Saints beat the Baggies in both regular season meetings and they won 15 of their 23 league games at St Mary’s. Albion finished in fifth spot in the table but they only had the 14th best away record in the division, losing nine of their 23 trips and winning just six.
Only two of West Brom’s road wins came against teams who finished in the top 10 and they failed to beat any of their top six rivals as a visiting side.
Southampton are sweating on the fitness of striker Che Adams as he missed the first leg at the Hawthorns and is rated as a doubt for Friday’s clash. His absence would be a blow for Saints, but they still have enough attacking talent within their squad to overcome poor travellers West Brom if he is unavailable.
Armstrong Could Be Key
Adam Armstrong led the scoring for Southampton with 21 goals and he could well be the man to fire them into the final.
Armstrong had two shots in the first leg and has been in good form at St Mary’s with two goals and two assists in his last six appearances at this venue.
The 27-year-old scored the winner when these sides met in the corresponding league fixtures back in November and can help his side down the Baggies with an anytime effort on Friday.
ADAM ARMSTRONG TO SCORE ANYTIME
Furlong A Value Booking Option
Darnell Furlong was arguably West Brom’s best player in the first leg but he could be set for a difficult evening on Friday.
Saints will try and force the issue as the home side so they should put the Albion defence under a bit more pressure than they faced at the Hawthorns. That could lead to a few cards being dished out and of West Brom’s backline Furlong offers the best value for a booking.
The 28-year-old picked up 10 yellow cards in 47 league games this season and averages exactly one foul per-game. He committed one foul in the first leg and was West Brom’s busiest defender with four tackles, more than any of his team-mates, so he offers appeal as a candidate for a potential booking.
