West Brom vs. Liverpool: Preview, Team News, and Ways to Watch

WEST BROMWICH ALBION VS. LIVERPOOL

| Sunday, May 16th |
Premier League | The Hawthorns
4:30PM GMT/11:30AM EST

Liverpool head to The Hawthorns to take on Sam Allardyce’s relegated West Brom side in a must-win match for the Reds. The Baggies have nothing to lose and pride to play for, but for Liverpool, this game is vitally important if they have any hope of sneaking into the top four.

Right now, Liverpool sit four points behind fourth placed Chelsea and six points behind third placed Leicester City. However, tomorrow’s match is their game in hand on both, so they can see that gap closed significantly with a win.

Liverpool will have none of their short term injured player back, which means that Ozan Kabak, James Milner and Naby Keita are all out of contention. This in addition to the world class players who are all out long term.

West Brom, meanwhile, were relegated by Arsenal without loanee Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who couldn’t play against his home team. Maitland-Niles will be back in the fray on Sunday afternoon.

Liverpool’s difficulties in front of goal have been well-documented in the latter part of this cursed season, but notching four goals at Old Trafford on Thursday should do wonders to build their confidence in this next away match. Crucially, the player who lead the Reds’ potent attack on Thursday was Roberto Firmino, who had been under scrutiny for his lack of goals. If Liverpool have Bobby back in form for the last three matches, that would be huge for an attack that has failed to click recently.

Mohamed Salah’s 90th minute clincher against Manchester United put him even with Harry Kane on 21 goals this season. He’ll be looking to pull away from the Spurs star with another goal or two as well.

Projected Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)

Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Williams, Robertson; Fabinho, Thiago, Jones; Salah, Firmino, Mané

Diogo Jota could start again, but more likely, we’ll see Mané return to the starting line up after his exclusion against United. Match fitness will be really important to Klopp in these three crucial games coming up. Curtis Jones might find some space in the midfield as well.

In addition to the previously mentioned Kabak, Keita and Milner, Liverpool will also be without Jordan Henderson, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip.

West Brom will be without Robert Snodgrass and Branislav Ivanovic.

What the Managers Had to Say

Jurgen Klopp: “Most of my life I have been in a chasing role! I am used to it. It is a normal situation and a good situation. Most seasons I am involved in go to the wire! All good, exciting and last night was very much needed.”

Sam Allardyce: “It’s just me looking at them and telling them, and warning them, that I won’t stand for any ease off or letting themselves down, or anybody down, and to use their professionalism to continue to perform at their very best.”

The Officials

Referee: Mike Dean. Assistants: Mark Scholes, Darren Cann. Fourth official: Andy Madley. VAR: Kevin Friend. Assistant VAR: Dan Robathan.

Kickoff is set for 4:30PM GMT/11:30AM EST tomorrow, and television listings for the match can be found on LiveSoccerTV. In the meantime, we’ll be keeping you updated with all the buildup to the game, including team news as it’s released, our live matchday thread, and post-match recaps from The Liverpool Offside staff. If you want to join the discussion, sign up for an SB Nation account to have your say on the action as it happens.