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Roy Hodgson will face his former club tomorrow when his West Brom side host Liverpool in this fascinating clash at the Hawthorns.
The Anfield club sacked Hodgson earlier in the season just months into his reign at the club and have since gone on to appoint Kenny Dalglish as their new manager.
The 63-year-old wasn’t out of the game for long though, taking over as West Brom manager in February following the departure of Roberto Di Matteo.
He has enjoyed an unbeaten start to life with the Baggies, securing a victory over rivals Birmingham as well as creditable draws with Wolves, Stoke and most recently Arsenal.
The players certainly seem to be enjoying life under their new boss, but they still have a lot of work to do if they are to remain in the Premier League. As thing stand they are well and truly in a dogfight, sitting just a point above 18th placed Wolves.
As for Liverpool, they still have an outside chance of finishing in the top four this season after showing promising signs of improvement under Dalglish so far.
The Reds haven’t had it all their own way of late – they crashed out of Europe after a dire 0-0 home draw with Braga – but two Premier League wins on the spin, including a memorable win against Manchester United has them in good spirits.
With record signing Andy Carroll fit again and Luis Suarez proving an instant hit, they can be confident of finishing the campaign strongly and certainly of enjoying a more consistent season next time around.
With regards to their Champions League chances, they are currently eight points behind Manchester City, so in reality it is an unlikely prospect. They will want to do their bit though and keep their winning streak going so they can take advantage of any slip ups from the teams above them.
Looking at team news for this one, West Brom can call upon Peter Odemwingie and Youssouf Mulumbu again after injury, while Carlos Vela will undergo a late fitness test.
As for Liverpool, Dalglish is uncertain about risking captain Steven Gerrard, but Luis Suarez, Glen Johnson, Fabio Aurelio and Jonjo Shelvey could all start the game. However, Martin Kelly is out with a hamstring injury.
Overall, Liverpool will be favourites to get the three points, especially if they perform as they did at Sunderland last time out.
However, West Brom are much harder to beat under Hodgson and are fighting for their lives, so it should be a competitive match.
