West Bromwich Albion travel to the Riverside Stadium to face Middlesbrough this Saturday as they go in search for their seventh win of the season. Jonathan Woodgate has so far seen his Boro side win two, draw four and lose five times this term. The Baggies have won four of their last six matches as Slaven Bilić’s men look to maintain the pace at the top.
West Bromwich Albion Looking to Maintain Pace
Last Time Out: Middlesbrough
Teenager Odin Bailey scored Birmingham City’s late winner that earned them a deserved victory over Middlesbrough at St Andrew’s. Blues had dominated for long periods and created numerous chances throughout the game, racking up 26 attempts at goal, compared to Boro’s five.
Despite their dominance, Birmingham had only Fran Villalba’s first-half strike to show for it and were almost made to pay when defender Daniel Ayala bundled home a late equaliser for Boro. But, moments later and just a few minutes after coming on, Bailey calmly finished at the far post to give Blues their first win in four games and leave Middlesbrough languishing in 20th place.
Last Time Out: West Bromwich Albion
West Brom moved to the top of the Championship after fending off a late Cardiff City comeback at The Hawthorns. Cardiff came into the game on a seven-match unbeaten run but were blown away by a stunning first-half performance as the Baggies lead by two goals at the break.
The Bluebirds were much more competitive in the second half but went further behind as Charlie Austin raced clear to score his first goal of the season and the hosts’ third of the game.
Cardiff threatened an unlikely comeback late on as substitute Danny Ward scored twice, prompting Neil Warnock to throw men forward in search of an equaliser. However, they left themselves exposed and Romaine Sawyers added a fourth for Albion in stoppage time to seal the win.
Yet to Click For Middlesbrough
Woodgate has struggled to strike any kind of balance as his side plummets towards the relegation positions after a run of bad results. They haven’t clicked in attack and defensively they’ve been all over the place at times. They were noticeably poor in their defeats to Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City.
There has been the odd flash of promise from Boro on occasion but not enough to give any indication that they are about to turn things around. They did the league double over West Brom last season though and eight of their ten points have come at the Riverside, giving hope that a result this weekend is not beyond them and it could be the catalyst for their season.
West Bromwich Albion Team Ethic
West Brom are everything that Boro are not; compact at the back, aggressive in midfield and with pace up front. Every outfield player in the side that started their last game against Cardiff has scored in the first quarter of the Championship season. They have quality embedded throughout the squad, with no player having contributed more than four goals so far. They are amongst the highest scorers through a solid team ethic rather than individual stars.
They’ve still not been able to fix their defensive issues which has caused problems with the Baggies forced to win 15 of their 21 points from losing positions. Thirteen goals conceded is the most in the top eight, but they have still found a way to get results, and are very tough to beat. They’ve only lost one game this season, a narrow 1-0 away to Leeds United. Commanding defender Ahmed Hegazy is set to return to the back four to help plug the leaky defence.
Middlesbrough’s Tough Task
Jonathan Woodgate will have spent the international break working on how to get his Middlesbrough side to start moving up the table and away from the relegation zone. It’s a big ask to begin a change of fortunes this weekend, even at home, with Slaven Bilić’s Baggies flying high and still improving. If we see the Boro side that allowed themselves to be torn open at will by Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City, we will likely see a drubbing.
