West Brom will be looking to go a fifth game unbeaten this weekend when they face Southampton at home this Saturday. The Baggies are on a good run of form but will need to perform well to beat the Saints.
Saido Berahino, partnered with Brown Ideye, has picked up his performances to return to his early season form recently, and although he didn’t score last time out, the striker now sits on nine Premier League goals. He has scored from exactly a fifth of his shots and has put 48.9% of his shots on target, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Berahino has also played more minutes in the Premier League than any other player in the West Brom squad (1905). Berahino is 21/4 to score first with 888sport.com.
One of Berahino’s main suppliers is midfielder Stephane Sessegnon. The creative playmaker has completed more dribbles than any other West Brom player with 29 successful dribbles to his name, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. He is second in the club rankings for assists with four, one behind Chris Brunt.
Craig Gardner has been a key cog in the West Brom midfield this season, both going forward and defensively. Although his contributions have largely been defensive, Gardner has the second most shots on target in the West Brom squad (12) behind Berahino. Defensively, Gardner has made the seventh most tackles in the entire division, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
Southampton have only won one of their last four games, scoring just one goal in the process, but they are still sat in fifth place, only two points off of Arsenal in third place, and will want to keep the pressure up and possibly leapfrog those above them by recording a win against West Brom.
Nathaniel Clyne has arguably been the outstanding player in the Southampton side this season. The England right back has made 88 successful tackles, the second highest total in the league, as well as the seventh greatest number of sprints, with 1458, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
Sadio Mané has also excelled under Ronald Koeman this year and the Senegalese winger is Southampton’s second top goalscorer. Mané has five goals so far this season and has recorded 51.9% of his shots on target, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Mané is 6/1 to score first with 888sport.com.
A big bonus for Southampton this weekend will be the return of Ryan Bertrand from suspension. Bertrand has missed the last three games but is likely to return to the start against West Brom. Bertrand has made the seventh highest number of successful crosses in the Premier League with 21, finding his man 27.6% percent of the time, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
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