The second day of the Premier League Asia Trophy 2017 takes place on Saturday, beginning with the third-place play-off between West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace.

The two sides lost their semi-final games to Leicester City and Liverpool respectively and will each hope to end the tour of Hong Kong with a positive result.

The semi-finals

The Baggies’ dreams of reaching the final were ended by Leicester, who beat Tony Pulis' side in a penalty shoot-out in Wednesday’s semi-final. New striker Jay Rodriguez thumped West Brom into the lead with a 25-yard strike just ten minutes into the game, although Foxes wide man Riyad Mahrez quickly equalised.

Craig Shakespeare’s men won the shoot-out 7-6 thanks to Marc Albrighton’s winning penalty after Sam Field’s decisive miss.

Later that day, Palace were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool in Frank de Boer's first game as boss after he replaced the retiring Sam Allardyce. Late goals from substitutes Dominic Solanke and Divock Origi won the tie for the Reds, although the Eagles had chances of their own – the best fell to youngster Keshi Anderson whose effort was well saved by Simon Mignolet.

Last season’s meetings

The two sides met at Palace’s Selhurst Park on the opening day of the season. Salomon Rondon’s header was the only goal of the game as the Eagles’ poor home form from the 2015/16 season continued.

However, the South Londoners earned revenge in early March, beating the Baggies 2-0 at the Hawthorns. Wilfried Zaha’s powerful half-volley opened the scoring midway through the second half, before Andros Townsend stormed the length of the pitch, holding off a challenge from Jonathan Leko, before finding the net.

Albion’s victory at Palace was the start of an excellent beginning to the 2016/17 campaign, in which they climbed as high as eighth before Christmas. However, a dip in form in 2017 saw them fall down the table and eventually finish tenth.

Meanwhile, Palace’s own fortunes contrasted the Baggies’. They began the season with club legend Alan Pardew in charge, but seemingly never-ending poor form and defeats against relegation rivals sealed his fate and he was inevitably sacked in December.

Former England boss Allardyce replaced Pardew and a continuation of the negative results saw many predict Palace’s four-year stay in the top-flight to end. However, Allardyce eventually improved results and impressive victories against Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool lifted them to a final 14th-place finish.

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About the author
Sam Smith
VAVEL UK sub-editor. Premier League and Football League accredited journalist.