Liverpool vs West Bromwich Albion prediction, preview, team news and more | Premier League 2020-21

Premier League leaders Liverpool welcome West Bromwich Albion to Anfield on Sunday, as they look to continue the pace they have set at the top of the table.

After an indifferent start to December that saw away draws against Fulham and FC Midtjylland, Liverpool clicked into gear in their last two games, with wins against Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace.

Klopp discussed topping the table at Christmas, Mane’s form, Salah’s goalscoring and Sam Allardyce’s @WBA during his pre-match press conference... #LIVWBA

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 24, 2020

Last Saturday, the Reds overwhelmed Palace 7-0 at Selhurst Park, with two goals each from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah. It is also the first time since September that Liverpool have had a week to prepare for a Premier League game, outside of the international breaks.

West Brom, who sacked Slaven Bilic after a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium last week, lost their first game under Sam Allardyce on Sunday, as Aston Villa put them to the sword in a 3-0 drubbing at The Hawthorns.

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Liverpool vs West Bromwich Albion Head-to-Head

Liverpool have won 68 of their 151 previous games against West Brom. The Reds have lost 39 times, while 44 games have ended in draws.

The last game between these two sides, which happened at The Hawthorns in April 2018, finished in a 2-2 draw.

Liverpool form guide: W-W-D-D-W

West Bromwich Albion form guide: L-D-L-L-W

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Liverpool vs West Bromwich Albion Team News

Liverpool's injury crisis has shown signs of relenting over the last few days. Thiago Alcantara, Xherdan Shaqiri and James Milner all returned to team training, but Klopp has already ruled the Spaniard out of contention for this game.

Both Milner and Shaqiri could be available for this game depending on how they respond to training before the game on Sunday, but both are unlikely to start anyway.

We will assess Milner and Shaqiri’s fitness ahead of Sunday's meeting with @WBA, but Thiago will not come into contention.#LIVWBA

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 24, 2020

From the team that started against Crystal Palace, it would be a surprise to see changes other than Mohamed Salah coming back into the starting XI in place of Takumi Minamino.

Injured: Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Thiago Alcantara, Diogo Jota, Kostas Tsimikas

Doubtful: Xherdan Shaqiri, James Milner

Suspended: None

West Brom will have to do without Jake Livermore for the next three games after he was shown a red card in the game against Aston Villa. They have Matheus Pereira back from suspension, though.

Conor Townsend, Hal Robson-Kanu and Kyle Bartley are all ruled out of this game with injuries.

Injured: Conor Townsend, Kyle Bartlet, Hal Robson-Kanu

Suspended: Jake Livermore

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Liverpool vs West Bromwich Albion Predicted XI

Liverpool Predicted XI (4-3-3): Alisson Becker; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Fabinho, Andy Robertson; Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum, Naby Keita; Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane

West Bromwich Albion Predicted XI (4-5-1): Sam Johnstone; Darnell Furlong, Semi Ajayi, Dara O'Shea, Kieran Gibbs; Matt Phillips, Romaine Sawyers, Matheus Pereira, Connor Gallagher, Grady Diangana; Karlan Grant

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Liverpool vs West Bromwich Albion Prediction

A well-rested Liverpool should be too much to handle for this West Brom side. So we are predicting a comfortable win for the champions.

Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 West Bromwich Albion