Pressure on at The Hawthorns
West Bromwich Albion host Burnley on Friday evening in pursuit of back-to-back home wins.
The Baggies have won one, drawn five and lost once so far in the Championship, not doing much for the little faith the supporter base had in Steve Bruce at the start of the season.
West Brom have a very high profile starting XI in the second tier, but they have not clicked in the final on a consistent basis since relegation from the Premier League, niggling injuries to Daryl Dike has not helped that cause since he arrived from Orlando City in January.
The Clarets have been mesmerising in patches so far this season, rising to third with victories over Wigan Athletic and Millwall in the last week.
Background
This could get spicy.
Burnley are very possession-based under Vincent Kompany, and the Baggies will be happy to sit back and try to hurt them on the counter-attack.
However, with West Brom sat in mid-table, where they slipped to last season, the expectant home crowd will not hold back their frustration if the scoreline is not to their liking.
The Clarets have the attacking talent to cause plenty of problems if they can have possession in dangerous areas, with signings from abroad gradually getting up to speed in the Championship.
Jay Rodriguez and Ashley Barnes remain dependable goal threats for Burnley, but the likes of Josh Brownhill, Johann Gudmundsson and Nathan Tella could be their more prolific sources of goals under Kompany.
The Baggies ran out comfortable 5-2 winners against Hull City in their last home game, and under the lights this could prove to be one of the tougher tests of the season for a fresh-looking Burnley side.
The early signs have been very promising for Kompany, and looking to implement his footballing philosophy in a short space of time, both sides will be desperate for a positive result coming out of the summer transfer window.
Jed Wallace has started very strongly for the Baggies, despite not picking up the goal contributions that his performances have threatened to, and the former Millwall man could be Bruce’s go to man to break Burnley down, even on the counter-attack if necessary.
Charlie Taylor and Taylor Harwood-Bellis at centre back could be seen as a small weakness in Burnley’s second tier title credentials and it will be interesting to see how they deal with Karlan Grant, John Swift and potentially Grady Diangana.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
We earn the win in the 98th minute! 1-1.