West Brom manager Sam Allardyce is targeting his side's upcoming matchup with Arsenal as a relegation six-pointer. Allardyce called Arsenal a relegation candidate in no uncertain terms this week.
Slaven Bilić was surprisingly let go by West Bromwich Albion last week. Bilić's side was 19th when he was let go but had just drawn 1-1 with Manchester City.
They were five points clear of bottom-side Sheffield United and were within touching distance of safety. They were also within touching distance of Arsenal.
Arsenal currently lie in 15th on 14 points. They're not in serious trouble of being relegated right now but they're much further down the table than anticipated. The Gunners are just seven points ahead of West Brom and four points out of the relegation zone.
Their standing in the league opened the door for a reporter to ask Sam Allardyce about their prospects this week, "If they are in the bottom eight at the moment, yes. Absolutely [they are a rival for Premier League survival]."
Allardyce, every team's favourite emergency button when at the bottom of the table, took over from Bilić last week and lost his first game 3-0 to Aston Villa on Sunday. He indirectly spoke about how devastating that loss could be to his team's morale moving forward when speaking about Arsenal.
"Getting beaten [by Manchester City], even though it is not in the Premier League, as it would do with ours, drains the confidence of Arsenal's players.
"They will be wondering what has hit them. They will be wondering why they are down there. They will be wondering what it takes to get out of that position. I know what it takes. I hope to convince my players to respond to that."
West Brom are the eighth team in the top tier of English football that Allardyce has managed. He's primarily taken over teams who were in the bottom half of the league when he was brought in. West Brom are just the latest team he's trying to reignite confidence in and he's using Arsenal as a foundation to build off of.
Allardyce's team welcome Arsenal on January 2nd, "I hope we can push at Arsenal, when we play them, because they have a lack of confidence. We will try to beat them, or anybody in the bottom eight."
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