It didn’t look likely when Mo Salah put Liverpool two up with 18 minutes left, but Jake Livermore pulled one back with his first Albion goal and Salomón Rondón scored the equaliser with two minutes to go to maintain Darren Moore’s unbeaten record.
The point may have been useless according to Jürgen Klopp, but it keeps the Baggies slim survival hopes alive for another week, assuming Swansea don’t beat Manchester City this afternoon, of course. That seems unlikely, but so was Albion’s victory at Old Trafford last weekend!
The fact that Swansea are the only side outside the bottom three that Albion can catch, the lead that was lost a fortnight ago looks all the more important – had the Baggies held on to win, they would be three points closer to Swansea. But the main “if only” question on the lips of the Hawthorns faithful is less about that, and more about the decision to keep Pardew in post for so long.
Thirteen years ago, Albion recovered from their 4-0 hammering at ‘Boro to earn a vital point at home to Blackburn Rovers. Kieran Richardson gave the Baggies a first half lead only for Brett Emerton to square it up after the break. It was Albion’s game in hand over their rivals with Blackburn having reached the semi-final of the FA Cup that season, and it left things very tight at the bottom of the table with three games to go.
After that match the table stood as follows:
| Premier League Relegation Battle – 26th April 2005 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 17. | Crystal Palace | 35 | 7 | 9 | 19 | 37 | 58 | -21 | 30 |
| 18. | West Brom | 35 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 33 | 58 | -25 | 30 |
| 19. | Norwich City | 35 | 6 | 12 | 17 | 38 | 67 | -29 | 30 |
| 20. | Southampton | 35 | 5 | 13 | 17 | 38 | 59 | -21 | 28 |
Here are the full season by season comparisons.
| Home | Away | Season End | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Posn* | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Posn | Pts | |
| 2002/2003 | 35 | 6 | 6 | 23 | 26 | 56 | 24 | 19th | 3 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 26 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 30 | 11 | 19th | 26 |
| 2004/2005 | 35 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 33 | 58 | 30 | 18th | 4 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 22 | 20 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 18 | 36 | 10 | 17th | 34 |
| 2005/2006 | 35 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 29 | 52 | 29 | 19th | 6 | 2 | 10 | 21 | 23 | 20 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 29 | 9 | 19th | 30 |
| 2008/2009 | 35 | 7 | 7 | 21 | 33 | 64 | 28 | 20th | 6 | 3 | 8 | 23 | 30 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 10 | 34 | 7 | 20th | 32 |
| 2010/2011 | 35 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 51 | 65 | 43 | 11th | 7 | 6 | 5 | 29 | 30 | 27 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 22 | 35 | 16 | 11th | 47 |
| 2011/2012 | 35 | 13 | 6 | 16 | 41 | 47 | 45 | 10th | 6 | 2 | 9 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 28 | 25 | 10th | 47 |
| 2012/2013 | 35 | 14 | 6 | 15 | 48 | 47 | 48 | 8th | 9 | 3 | 6 | 27 | 20 | 30 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 21 | 27 | 18 | 8th | 49 |
| 2013/2014 | 35 | 7 | 15 | 13 | 42 | 54 | 36 | 15th | 4 | 9 | 5 | 23 | 25 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 29 | 15 | 17th | 36 |
| 2014/2015 | 35 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 33 | 46 | 40 | 13th | 6 | 4 | 8 | 21 | 26 | 22 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 20 | 18 | 13th | 44 |
| 2015/2016 | 35 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 32 | 43 | 41 | 13th | 6 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 21 | 19 | 14th | 43 |
| 2016/2017 | 35 | 12 | 9 | 14 | 41 | 45 | 45 | 8th | 9 | 2 | 7 | 27 | 21 | 29 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 24 | 16 | 10th | 45 |
| 2017/2018 | 35 | 4 | 13 | 18 | 29 | 54 | 25 | 20th | 2 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 29 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 25 | 10 | ||
| Comparison of Equivalent Fixtures^ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| 2016/2017 | 35 | 11 | 7 | 17 | 40 | 49 | 40 |
| 2016/2017 Results | Liverpool (H) | L | 0-1 | ||||
| Hull City (A) | D | 1-1 | |||||
Results
| 2002/2003 | 21/04/2003 | Tottenham Hotspur (H) | L | 2-3 | Dichio, Clement |
| 2004/2005 | 26/04/2005 | Blackburn Rovers (H) | D | 1-1 | Richardson |
| 2005/2006 | 17/04/2006 | Bolton Wanderers (H) | D | 0-0 | |
| 2008/2009 | 02/05/2009 | Tottenham Hotspur (A) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2010/2011 | 30/04/2011 | Aston Villa (H) | W | 2-1 | Odemwingie, Mulumbu |
| 2011/2012 | 21/04/2012 | Liverpool (A) | W | 1-0 | Odemwingie |
| 2012/2013 | 04/05/2013 | Wigan Athletic (H) | L | 2-3 | Long, McAuley |
| 2013/2014 | 26/04/2014 | West Ham United (H) | W | 1-0 | Berahino |
| 2014/2015 | 02/05/2015 | Manchester United (A) | W | 1-0 | Olsson |
| 2015/2016 | 25/04/2016 | Tottenham Hotspur (A) | D | 1-1 | Dawson |
| 2016/2017 | 06/05/2017 | Burnley (A) | D | 2-2 | Rondón, Dawson |
| 2017/2018 | 21/04/2018 | Liverpool (H) | D | 2-2 | Livermore, Rondón |
Next Matches
| 2002/2003 | 26/04/2003 | Liverpool (H) | L | 0-6 | |
| 2004/2005 | 02/05/2005 | Arsenal (H) | L | 0-2 | |
| 2005/2006 | 22/04/2006 | Newcastle United (A) | L | 0-3 | |
| 2008/2009 | 09/05/2009 | Wigan Athletic (H) | W | 3-1 | Fortuné (2), Brunt |
| 2010/2011 | 08/05/2011 | Wolverhampton Wanderers (A) | L | 1-3 | Odemwingie |
| 2011/2012 | 28/04/2012 | Aston Villa (H) | D | 0-0 | |
| 2012/2013 | 07/05/2013 | Manchester City (A) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2013/2014 | 04/05/2014 | Arsenal (A) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2014/2015 | 09/05/2015 | Newcastle United (A) | D | 1-1 | Anichebe |
| 2015/2016 | 30/04/2016 | West Ham United (H) | L | 0-3 | |
| 2016/2017 | 12/05/2017 | Chelsea (H) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2017/2018 | 28/04/2018 | Newcastle United (A) |
* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the Premier League table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.
^ Fixtures against promoted clubs are compared against fixtures against the relegated clubs from last season with the club finishing 1st in the Championship compared against the club finishing 18th in the Premier League, 2nd compared with 19th and the play-off winners compared against the club who finished bottom.