No Premier League side has scored more goals from set-pieces than The Baggies this season.
West Bromwich Albion captain Darren Fletcher has issued a stark set-piece warning to floundering Premier League leaders Manchester City ahead of the two sides’ Premier League clash at The Hawthorns this weekend, as quoted by The Mirror.
Despite succumbing to a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday evening, Tony Pulis’ towering Baggies side, who have scored six of their 10 goals from set-pieces this season, demonstrated their formidable threat from dead-balls once again by pulling themselves back into the game courtesy of defender Gareth McAuley’s late second-half strike from a corner kick.
Unfortunately for Pulis, Albion failed to grab an equaliser following the Northern Ireland international’s scrappy 81st minute finish, however the redoubtable aerial prowess the Baggies possess means that they always carry a notable goalscoring threat at any time during a game, regardless of who they are facing or how they are performing.
Pep Guardiola’s table-topping City side will head into Saturday’s game at The Hawthorns in a concerning run of form, after failing to win any of their last five games in all competitions, and Fletcher believes that the uncompromising Baggies can harness their dead-ball expertise to heap more misery on the former Barcelona manager’s frail Citizens defence.
Speaking to The Mirror, the former Manchester United midfielder said:
“We’re strong at them (set-pieces). We work hard and we’re a big team, so we take advantage of that.
“We’re good at set-pieces, it’s not a case of spotting vulnerability in the opposition it’s that we’re strong.”
West Brom currently sit 13th in the table following last weekend’s defeat at Anfield, however Pulis’s side have shown that they can provide stern opposition for the Premier League’s elite sides, after turning in commendable performances against both Liverpool and Spurs in the past two weeks.
Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo has recently roused the ire of Sky Blues’ fans following a series of glaring errors since his controversial summer move from Barcelona, and Fletcher and his wily West Brom teammates will undoubtedly be looking to exploit the Chilean stopper’s suspect decision-making when the two sides face off on Saturday afternoon.
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