The Championship weekend concludes at The Hawthorns on Sunday afternoon when West Bromwich Albion continue their unbeaten campaign so far when they host a struggling Huddersfield Town side.
Huddersfield are under new leadership and it will be interesting to see what progress they have made, if any, over the last week or so. West Brom have probably not played as well as their record suggests but they have a chance to kick into life here.
West Brom
The Baggies are unbeaten so far but they have only won one of their last four matches in the Championship and while not losing gets you so far in this division, if West Brom harbour hopes of getting promoted this term then they have to start turning some of these draws into wins. The reason why they aren’t winning as many matches as they would like is the fact they haven’t kept a clean sheet this season yet.
That is a pretty alarming statistic for a team managed by Slaven Bilic, a strong defender in his day. At the other end of the pitch, although things can always be better, West Brom have scored in every match, so if they can find a little defensive solidity without sacrificing anything going forward then you would expect them to go on a decent run in the not too distant future.
Huddersfield Town
The Terriers have been terrible so far this season. They have yet to win a match, have just one point to their name and dropped to the bottom of the table on Saturday when Stoke avoided defeat against Brentford. I’ve said it in most of the previews I’ve done covering Huddersfield this season but their problem is glaringly obvious, they just lack any firepower whatsoever in the attacking areas of the pitch.
I’m not completely sure that Danny Cowley is the man to get it out of them either. To his credit, he and his brother looked to modify their style when they were in League 1 with Lincoln and you would think they will have to do that here because Huddersfield aren’t really equipped for a direct style. The one thing I am expecting them to produce is an honest work rate and a commitment to build on.
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Team News
Kieran Gibbs is still missing for West Brom as he has an injury so Nathan Ferguson could well continue at left-back in the absence of the former Arsenal and England defender. Conor Townsend is another out injured.
This is the second game in charge of Huddersfield for Danny Cowley but it is the first one where playmaker Alex Pritchard is available. You would expect he will come straight into the side to attempt to create something for his team.
Betting
You would expect West Brom to win this match but I’m not altogether convinced I can be on a 4/6 shot when they have drawn more than they have won this season. Although Huddersfield have been ordinary this term, it isn’t like they have been cannon fodder for anyone so while the Baggies should win they can just do so if they are good enough.
Instead the bet I’m happier taking is for both teams to score. Both these teams have played seven matches this season and neither of them have kept a clean sheet as yet which is telling about their defensive abilities. There is the belief that Huddersfield are going to struggle to score and I wouldn’t disagree with that but WBA have been ordinary defending set-pieces this season and that has already been a strength of the Yorkshire outfit and that is unlikely to change under the Cowley brothers. These two sides are used to conceding goals and they can both do it again here.
Tips
WON – Back Both teams to score for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
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