West Brom vs Southampton predictions: Tight encounter expected at The Hawthorns
- West Brom have lost just one of their last six home games in the Championship
- Southampton won both league meetings in the regular campaign
- Recommended bet: Over 10.5 corners
West Brom will hope to make home advantage count when they entertain Southampton in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi-final on Sunday.
The Saints finished fourth, 12 points ahead of West Brom, and they did the double over the Baggies during the regular season.
Carlos Corberan's side will fancy their chances, though, as the Baggies have been difficult to beat on their own patch.
Team news
Corberan will be without Jayson Molumby, with the midfielder ruled out for the season with a foot injury.
The game comes too soon for striker Daryl Dike, who is expected to be out until the end of the month with an Achilles injury, although Jed Wallace and John Swift are hoping to return to the starting XI,
Southampton coach Russell Martin is waiting to see if Che Adams can pass a fitness test.
Ross Stewart is expected to be named on the bench after spending most of the season in the treatment room, but Stuart Armstrong, Juan Larios and Gavin Bazunu are all sidelined.
The stats
After losing three games in a row, West Brom responded by beating Preston 3-0 on the final day of the regular campaign.
At home, the Baggies have only lost one of their last six games, while they have only tasted defeat in two of their last nine in front of their own fans, although one of those defeats was a 2-0 loss to Southampton.
The Saints also ended a run of three consecutive defeats by beating Leeds 2-1 at Elland Road, but on the road, the Saints have struggled.
That success over the Whites was their first win on the road since the start of March.
Prediction
Play-off games are typically difficult to predict, and neither team come into the game in great form, but at least they both won last weekend.
Instead of picking a winner, the smart play could come from looking at corners.
Only Queens Park Rangers, Swansea City and Stoke City have won more corners than the Saints and West Brom this season. Martin's team won 907 in 46 games, two more than West Brom.
There were 15 corners in the previous meeting in February and 13 in the game at St Mary's in November.
Games involving Southampton contained an average of 11.43 corners per match, compared to 10.91 in matches involving the hosts.
Both teams will look to use set-pieces to their advantage, and backing the overs line looks like the way to go this weekend.
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