Southampton v West Brom

Southampton vs West Brom Preview

After having held West Brom to a 0-0 draw away from home at The Hawthorns in the 1st leg of this Play-Off semi-final, Friday night's hosts, Southampton, will now fancy their chances of making the most of home advantage as the south coast club look to progress through to the final at Wembley Stadium and forget about their worrying three-match losing streak in the Championship beforehand.

Southampton had previously been dealt defeats at the hands of Cardiff City, Leicester City and Stoke City but The Saints responded with an impressive 2-1 win away from home at Elland Road against fellow play-off contenders, Leeds United, on the final day of the season to give them a welcome and timely lift ahead of the play-offs.

Results overall in recent weeks have been a little inconsistent as Southampton have managed to win just six out of their last 13 matches in the English second tier along with being dealt four defeats in the process as well, but Russell Martin's side will be hoping they can make the most of home advantage here on Friday night.

Indeed, Southampton have won four out of their last six home games.

West Brom may be kicking themselves for having not taken advantage of their 1st leg home tie against Southampton as The Baggies were held to a 0-0 draw and the west midlands club had also experienced a three-game losing streak just prior to the end of the season just like their upcoming hosts.

The visitors had been dealt defeats by the likes of Sunderland, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday respectively although Carlos Corberan's side did manage to produce a positive and winning response with a welcome 3-0 home win against Preston NE on the final day of the Championship season.

The bigger picture shows West Brom have lost just these three games out of their last 15 matches overall which also consists of six wins and six draws and it's worth noting that four of West Brom's six wins during this period were achieved on home soil at The Hawthorns.

However, this also means that the visitors have managed to capture just two victories from their previous 12 outings on the road and this could be a deciding factor in the outcome of this return leg down on the south coast at the St Mary's Stadium on Friday night.

Southampton v West Brom Verdict

Southampton have held the upper hand in recent previous exchanges against their visitors as The Saints have won two of the last three meetings and with home advantage and a full crowd behind them, it looks like Southampton have the edge again on Friday night.

Therefore, our main bet will be Southampton win @ 1.80

Other side bets worth considering:

Southampton win & Over 2.5 goals @ 2.87

Correct Score: Southampton 2-1 @ 8.50