Matt Murray shared that he thought West Bromwich Albion could make a big statement by beating Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on Friday night.
The former Wolves goalkeeper shared that he thought the Baggies would have been surprised by how they took to life in the Championship but said they will likely be very confident following their 7-1 win over Queens Park Rangers.
Murray highlighted midfielder Harvey Barnes and winger Matt Phillips as two WBA players that had impressed him so far but didn’t predict a winner between Boro and the Baggies.
“West Brom 7-1 their last game so they’re going to be going there brimming with confidence,” said the 37-year-old on talkSPORT (August 24, 9:35am)
“Yeah I like Harvey Barnes, Phillips looks like he’s playing well but to score six goals in a half…
“I thought they would of been surprised by the defeat at home to Bolton then the defeat at home to Forest when they got the equaliser and for long spells of the game they weren’t great.
“I think after coming down, I know they went down, but they had great momentum as they finished strongly in the Premier League, people saying they were up there with the favourites so this was a wake up call for them now.
“The QPR game will give them so much belief, you know what it’s like scoring goals it gives you belief and it will be a really good atmosphere up at Middlsbrough, good pitch, two sides believing they can win it.
“I think it will be more of an open game then people might think, so yeah they’ll be flying home and if they can win this game and it’s a real big statement by West Brom.”
OPINION
It’s hard to disagree with Murray’s assessment that the Baggies’ game with Boro will be an interesting affair as both sides will be eager to get more points on the board. This match is particularly hard to predict hence why Murray steers clear of going out on a limb by sharing what he thought the outcome would be. However he was willing to say that people will be pleasantly surprised by how open the game will likely be. After winning the last two on the bounce, the Baggies will be eager to make it three-in-a-row on Friday and they certainly have the tools to do so. Murray opted to highlight Barnes and Phillips ahead of the Friday’s clash and both could play a key part in the Baggies chalking up another win. The duo both looked in fantastic form against QPR and if they put in a similar performance against Boro then Tony Pulis’ side will surely pick up zero points from their upcoming match.