West Brom v Leicester: Team news, predictions & odds

The game kicks off at 1500 BST at The Hawthorns.

West Brom v Leicester: Team news

West Brom will be without Matt Phillips and Hal Robson-Kanu for the visit of Leicester.

Both players pulled up with hamstring injuries in training on Tuesday and could also miss the trip to Burnley next weekend.

Either James Morrison or James McClean will replace Phillips while Salomon Rondon will come in for Robson-Kanu up front, as Albion look to break a four-game duck without a goal. 

Leicester captain Wes Morgan will be assessed ahead of the game.

Morgan missed the defeat at Arsenal in midweek with a hamstring injury. He trained on Thursday and it is hoped he will do so again on Friday, with manager Craig Shakespeare prepared to give the central defender as long as possible to prove his fitness.

Striker Islam Slimani is expected to be available again having been kept out by a groin problem recently. 

Teams

West Brom (from): Foster, Myhill, Rose, Nyom, Dawson, Marc Wilson, Kane Wilson, McAuley, Evans, Brunt, Galloway, Yacob, Fletcher, Livermore, Morrison, Field, Harper, McClean, Chadli, Rondon, Leko. 

Leicester (from): Schmeichel, Hamer, Zieler, Simpson, Huth, Morgan, Wasilewski, Benalouane, Chilwell, Fuchs, Drinkwater, King, Amartey, Ndidi, Gray, Mahrez, Kapustka, Albrighton, Musa, Ulloa, Vardy, Okazaki Slimani. 

West Brom v Leicester: Manager quotes

Tony Pulis (West Brom)

Asked if Craig Shakespeare would get a good reception from the home fans, Pulis said: "I should imagine so. He's from this area, he played for Walsall as well.

"He was a decent player. He's got his first opportunity and he's done a good job since taking over.

"He's a good football man, been in football for a long time. This is the first time he's had the opportunity to lead the team." 

On  Matt Phillips and Hal Robson-Kanu: "They'll both miss this game and the following week I should imagine.

"It is disappointing picking any injuries up in training. To get two in one day was bad luck in lots of respects, but we've done very well this year injury-wise.

"It's a bit of a blow for us, especially in respect of the forwards because we wanted to keep them fit as much as possible." 

Craig Shakespeare (Leicester)

On Wes Morgan: "He will be touch and go for Saturday.

"He trained outside yesterday (Thursday), not fully, with the squad and I'm hoping that if he joins in again today he will be in with a shout tomorrow, but I am going to give him every opportunity to prove his fitness.

"I won't put him at risk if he needs rest, even perhaps for the rest of the season. But knowing Wes' character he will want to play.

"As I say, he'll be given every opportunity to prove his fitness and then we will have a chat and see where we go with it." 

On the rest of the season: "There are 15 points available and we want them all.

"I think as a player and a manager you should always want as many points as possible - all the points.

"I am very greedy in that sense, I want all 15 points. I want the lot." 

On West Brom: "They've had a very good season and their home form has been very good.

"They've progressed a lot as a club, both on and off the field. I think they can play both ways - they can mix it and be direct but they have flair players like (Matty) Phillips and (Nacer) Chadli and can counter-attack quickly and play." 

West Brom v Leicester: Our prediction

Our Ben Coley writes... Has Craig Shakespeare’s so-called honeymoon period come to an end, or does a tricky run of games combined with an almighty Champions League distraction excuse Leicester’s three-game winless run in the Premier League?

On balance maybe a bit of both, but Leicester can certainly be excused a narrow defeat to Arsenal, throwing away a two-goal lead at Crystal Palace and ultimately coming up short against Everton in a carefree shootout which came on the eve of their trip to Madrid.

It will surely be difficult for the Foxes to summon serious enthusiasm for the final few weeks of the season but their overall trajectory remains positive, and the gap between them and Saturday’s hosts has narrowed significantly of late.

West Brom haven’t scored in four matches – in fact, they’ve found the net in one of their last seven, a damning indictment of an Arsenal side which rolled over and allowed them three back in March.

The Baggies remain eighth but their advantage over Southampton is a narrow one, so while a top-half finish remains very much within sight, two games against Man City and one against Chelsea suggests they will continue to fall having produced such an impressive first half of the season.

All of their success came thanks to Tony Pulis doing what we know he does best: making their home ground something of a fortress, inside which their visitors were made to feel uncomfortable.

Let’s not forget, West Brom still boast one of the best home records in the league. Pound-for-pound, perhaps Burnley’s is the only one which could be labelled superior. West Brom were the lowest-spending club last summer and to be eighth with just five games left is a huge achievement.

However, in the here and now it’s only their relative freshness which can be considered a big advantage over Leicester, but even that isn’t enough to jump on the bandwagon and support them at 6/4 and shortening.

Indeed I’d have been keen to side with Leicester were it not for the nature of their defeat to Arsenal, one Shakespeare admitted had caused serious dejection after so much hard work at the Emirates went to waste.

It would be an impressive boon to his prospects of keeping the job were Shakespeare to conjure another similar effort from his players, but if he can, this game is there for the taking.

Too many ifs and buts for me, though.

Prediction: West Brom 1-1 Leicester

West Brom v Leicester: Opta facts

West Brom have found the back of the net in each of their last 17 meetings with Leicester City in all competitions, scoring exactly twice in the last four in a row. 

The Foxes have won three of their last four trips to The Hawthorns (L1), winning the last two by a 3-2 scoreline. 

Jamie Vardy has scored in both of his Premier League appearances versus the Baggies at the Hawthorns (two goals). 

Riyad Mahrez has had a hand in four goals in his last three games against West Brom in the Premier League (two goals, two assists). 

Mahrez has been involved in eight goals in 31 Premier League appearances this season (five goals, three assists). After 31 PL games in their title-winning campaign of 2015-16, the Algerian had been involved in 27 goals (16 goals, 11 assists). 

Salomon Rondón has scored in two of his three Premier League matches against Leicester, but did fail to bag in the reverse fixture versus the Foxes in November. 

The Baggies have never previously failed to score in five consecutive league games within the top four tiers before. 

Overall, Tony Pulis’ side have now gone 375 minutes without a goal in the Premier League and have failed to score with any of their 45 shots since their 3-1 win against Arsenal in March. 

West Brom have suffered more defeats in their last seven Premier League matches (5) than they had in their previous 16 matches in the competition (4). 

After winning his first six competitive games in charge of Leicester, Craig Shakespeare has now failed to win any of the last five games in all competitions as the Foxes’ manager (W0 D2 L3).      

West Brom v Leicester: Sky Bet odds

West Brom are the 6/4 favourites with Leicester are priced at 9/5 with Sky Bet to win, while the draw is a 23/10 chance. Leicester are also up against the odds at 11/4 to secure a top-half finish, while West Brom have long odds of 8/1 to drop into the bottom half. Jamie Vardy heads a wide-open first goalscorer market at 5/1, while Salomon Rondon is considered the hosts’ main threat at 11/2 to net first.   

Click for Sky Bet's West Brom v Leicester odds!

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