West Bromwich Albion vs Sunderland verdict, predicted score, key stats and suggested bets
West Bromwich Albion's Brandon Thomas-Asante celebrates scoring
One point separates West Brom and Sunderland in the table ahead of this key clash in the Championship play-off race on Sunday (1230 BST).
West Brom and Sunderland sit in seventh and ninth-place respectively, so a win here would be a huge boost for either side's Championship play-off aspirations.
Date, KO time and TV coverage
Championship, Sunday April 23, Kick-off 12pm, live on Sky Sports Main Event
Predicted score
Suggested bets
Both teams to score
Sunderland win or draw
Key stats
West Brom are unbeaten in eight of their last 10 Championship matches, with both losses coming away from home.
West Brom have scored 17 goals in their last 12 home matches, failing to score just once.
Sunderland are unbeaten in their last six Championship matches.
Only Burnley, Middlesbrough and Blackburn have prevented Sunderland from scoring on their travels this season.
Team news
Adam Reach (muscle), Okay Yokuslu (ankle), Kyle Bartley (hamstring), Daryl Dike (achilles), Dara O'Shea (knee), Grady Diangana (foot) and Matt Phillips (muscle) will all miss out for West Brom.
Brandon Thomas-Asante should continue in attack after his midweek goal, but Nathaniel Chalobah is likely out. He will undergo a scan on Friday to assess ankle ligament damage picked up against Blackpool. Jayson Molumby will plug the hole left by Yokuslu’s absence.
Sunderland have the league's most extensive injury list with Edouard Michut (back), Niall Huggins (hamstring), Jewison Bennette (shoulder), Daniel Ballard (hamstring), Aji Alese (thigh), Corry Evans (ACL), Ross Stewart (achilles) and Elliot Embleton (ankle) all out.
The youthful trio of Amad Diallo (12), Jack Clarke (8) and Joe Gelhardt (3) have shared scoring responsibility in Stewart's absence.
Verdict
Back-to-back wins for the Baggies have put them back in contention for a place in the Championship play-offs, while Sunderland's unbeaten run means they are hot on Albion's tail.
West Brom fans may have feared the worst after going winless since the international break, but a 2-1 win away to Stoke and a 2-0 victory at Blackpool leaves them on the edge of the playoffs. West Brom currently sit seventh with 63 points.
Jayson Molumby's awareness allowed him to sneak under the radar on two occasions as he burst forward from his deep-lying position to score near identical scrappy goals against Stoke. Meanwhile, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Taylor Gardner-Hickman grabbed the goals against Blackpool in midweek.
Sunderland's success in this campaign can be attributed to their willingness to give youth a chance. The Black Cats have the youngest squad in the league and have fielded the youngest starting XI (22.7) this season.
Jack Clarke (22), Amad Diallo (20) and Leeds loanee Joe Gelhardt (20) have scored 23 goals between them this season, with six of those coming in April. Clarke and Diallo have provided four assists in that run as the front three have started to click.
Although Daryl Dike and Thomas-Asante are Albion's biggest threats on paper, both notching seven goals this season, the scoring burden has been shared across 17 different players.
Only Burnley (19) have had a higher number of individual goalscorers than West Brom, a stat driven by how efficient they have been on set pieces. Only two teams have bettered their tally of 16 goals from set plays.
Interestingly, Sunderland have the second lowest goals against from set pieces on their travels and could mitigate that threat. Tony Mowbray's men have displayed the kind of heart and fearlessness that you tend to get from inexperienced players.
Their record of six losses in 21 away matches is one of the better records in the Championship, and it's worth noting they have scored in all but three of their Championship fixtures. They also played out a 1-1 draw against Premier League side Fulham in the FA Cup.
Since West Brom have corrected their early season defensive struggles, either side is not accustomed to playing in higher-scoring games. West Brom and Sunderland's recent home and away fixtures are littered with 0-0, 1-0 and 1-1 scorelines.
With four and three games left in their respective seasons, these sides are running out of time to secure a playoff place. Losing could be more damaging than not winning, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see a tight and edgy game.
