Having watched Manchester City see off Southampton with relative ease, Liverpool knew that nothing less than a win at the Hawthorns was needed.
On a bad run of form, West Brom headed into the match struggling to find performances of the same standard as when they beat Arsenal. An out of form Salomon Rondon meant Wales’ Hal Robson-Kanu led the line for the Baggies and the ever-formidable backline of Craig Dawson, Gareth McAuley, Jonny Evans and Chris Brunt meant Liverpool were in for a tough afternoon if they wanted to take three points from Tony Pulis’ men.
Having won four of their last six games, Liverpool came into today’s encounter feeling confident, having shown a performance against Stoke which Jurgen Klopp described as “really special”.
They needed to bring the same fight and willingness to match the physicality of their opponents in order to create chances against one of the best defences in the league. Reverting to a back four after the exploits of a back three against Stoke gave the Reds a more familiar look.
A single goal decided what was in truth a slow moving game but some performances stood out more than others in a vital three points for the Reds.
