Talking points ahead of West Brom’s trip to Anfield

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Here are the talking points ahead of West Bromwich Albion’s trip to Anfield.

Evans out

On Saturday, West Bromwich Albion will be without Jonny Evans for the first time in 17 games after the defender picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against Tottenham. Evans’ suspension is a big blow to Tony Pulis who will have to reshuffle his four back for a challenging afternoon against an attack-minded Liverpool side.

There is no shortage of options for Pulis. He could opt for a straight swap with Jonas Olsson – who scored at Anfield last season – and leave the rest of the back four as it is. Alternatively, he might replace either Brendan Galloway or Chris Brunt at left-back, switch Allan Nyom to right-back, and move Craig Dawson into the centre of defence.

Draws galore

West Brom are fast turning into the Premier League’s draw specialists. Last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham was their third in-a-row, meaning they have drawn half of their opening eight league games.

Recent meetings between Liverpool and West Brom suggest another draw could be on the cards with four of the last five ending that way. Albion will be eager to turn these draws into wins but a point at Anfield would still be a welcome result.

Klopp v Pulis

Last season’s fiery clash saw tensions boil over on the Anfield touchline. At the final whistle, Jurgen Klopp failed to shake hands with Pulis, instead leading his players over to celebrate their late equaliser in front of the Kop.

After the game, Klopp appeared to criticise West Brom’s ‘long ball’ approach which was met by a strong rebuttal from Pulis. The two managers got through their clash at the Hawthorns in May without any issues but another typically stubborn Pulis performance away performance might be enough to rekindle their feud.

Set plays

Albion’s greatest attacking threat is Liverpool’s biggest defensive weakness. Tony Pulis’ side have scored six of their nine league goals from set pieces and will be confident of adding to that tally against a defensively frail Liverpool.

The opportunity to exploit set plays may encourage Pulis to select Jonas Olsson, who scored last year at Anfield, as he offers more of an aerial threat than Brunt and Galloway. If the big Swedish defender and his teammates can resist Liverpool’s waves of attacks, they will always stand a chance of nicking a result from dead ball situations.