Championship

The Hawthorns

Saturday 23rd October 2021 -  15:00
West Brom
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Bristol City
Key Events

Bristol City preview

The Baggies will want to bounce back from Wednesday’s defeat at Swansea City with three points against Bristol City at The Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon (ko 3pm).

Albion left South Wales empty-handed as second-half strikes from Joel Piroe and Jamie Paterson secured victory for the hosts, despite Karlan Grant’s opener inside the first 60 seconds.

Opponents Bristol City also suffered a late loss earlier this week. The Robins were leading 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest as the game entered into injury time, but two goals beyond the 90th minute saw City slip to their second consecutive Sky Bet Championship defeat.

How to follow the game

Supporters not attending The Hawthorns on Saturday can still follow the game live.

Fans in the UK and Republic of Ireland can enjoy live Baggies-biased commentary from 2.45pm. If you’re not a seasonal or monthly subscriber, you can buy a Match Pass for £2.50 and can also enjoy a full match replay of the game.

Fans based overseas can watch the match live on wba.co.uk or the official West Bromwich Albion app. Seasonal or monthly subscribers to video don’t need to do anything else, if you haven’t got a subscription you can buy a Video Match Pass for £10.

Click here to buy your WBA TV Matchday pass for WBA v Bristol City.

Click here to watch or listen live! 

WBA TV Matchday

Opposition

Saturday’s guests sit 16th in the table having taken 16 points from their opening 13 matches.

Bristol City, now in their seventh consecutive campaign in the second tier, have had a mixed bag of results so far this season, with all four Championship wins coming away from home.

The Robins will be pleased to be back out on their travels this weekend following two successive defeats at Ashton gate against AFC Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest respectively. City have endured a tough time on home soil in 2021, failing to win any of their last 17 league matches with their last success in front of their own fans coming way back in January.

Former assistant to Bryan Robson and ex-Albion caretaker boss Nigel Pearson is the man in charge. He was appointed in February after recent spells with Watford, OH Leuven of Belgium and Derby County. 

Pearson finished 19th with City last season, and will have his sights set on a top-half finish this time around in his first full term at the club.

Nigel Pearson will be back at The Hawthorns on Saturday

Classic match

Albion produced an impressive performance and an impressive result against the Robins the last time they visited The Hawthorns in November 2019.

Kieran Gibbs, Matheus Pereira, Hal Robson-Kanu and Charlie Austin were all on target in a thrilling 4-1 win.

Did you know?

The Baggies have scored exactly four goals in all of their last four league meetings with Bristol City at The Hawthorns.

Albion hit the Robins for four in November 2019, September 2018, November 2009 and December 2007.

Jay Rodriguez scores a penalty against City in September 2018

Read all about it

Conor Townsend is pushing his team-mates to shift “into the higher gear they’re capable of” when Albion take on the Robins this weekend.

The wing-back is the feature interview in this Saturday’s programme, which sees gaffer Valérien Ismaël discuss the importance of Black History Month and bouncing back from Wednesday’s defeat.

PL2 boss Richard Beale also discusses the benefit first-team training is having on his youngsters’ progress this term.

Programmes will be available for purchase in and around the ground this weekend. Alternatively, you can secure your copy online here.

Bristol City programme

LV BET’s latest odds

Albion are measured at 5/9 (1.55) to beat the Robins at The Hawthorns. 

After getting his name on the scoresheet for the fifth time in as many games, Karlan Grant once again tops the list at 3/2 (2.50) to score at any time this Saturday and at 9/2 (5.50) to be the first man on the pitch to find the back of the net.

On average, West Bromwich Albion have scored 2.2 goals a game at home in the Championship this season. With Bristol City also conceding two goals in each of their last two games, LV BET has a 2-0 victory for the Baggies available at 23/4 (6.75), a total goals over 2.5 market at 19/20 (1.95), and a 2.5 goals offer for West Bromwich Albion at 43/20 (3.15).

Check out the new LV BET Bet £10 Get £10 customer offer here. 18+ begambleaware.org. Terms apply. Odds are subject to change.

LV BET

Report

Albion produced an impressive display to beat Bristol City on Saturday afternoon at The Hawthorns.

Jordan Hugill’s first Baggies goal, along with Kyle Bartley’s glancing header gave the hosts a 2-0 lead at half-time.

And Karlan Grant’s seventh goal of the campaign shortly after the break ensured Valérien Ismaël’s men returned to winning ways on home soil.

Two medical emergencies in the stadium delayed the start of the first and second half of Albion’s clash with Bristol City.

Albion Head Coach Ismaël made two changes to the side which were defeated by Swansea in midweek, as Jordan Hugill returned up front while Robert Snodgrass made his first league start of the season.

The boss had demanded a fast start from his team ahead of Saturday’s clash, and he got exactly what he asked for after just seven minutes.

Matty Phillips quickly put a perfect pass into the path of the onrushing Darnell Furlong, and he delivered a perfect pass across goal which Hugill slammed past Daniel Bentley in the City goal to give Albion the initiative.

And Hugill could’ve netted his second in quick succession just minutes later when opposite full-back, Conor Townsend, slipped another inviting ball across the face of goal. The striker, however, was unable to keep his effort down as he lifted the ball over the bar.

It was one-way traffic for the hosts in the opening stages and Snodgrass nearly made the perfect return to the starting line-up when, following a scramble in the City area, the balled rolled out to him on the edge of the box. But his curling shot came back off the post, as City continued to keep Albion at bay.

Chances kept coming Albion’s way and Hugill was nearly the beneficiary again when George Tanner poor pass back to goal was pounced on by the Baggies forward, but Bentley was out to push his shot around the post.

Unfortunately for the visiting keeper, there was nothing he could do to prevent the Baggies taking a 2-0 lead in at the interval when Darnell Furlong’s throw-in was nodded in by the Bartley to cap off a dominant first-half display from the home side.

And it was more of the same after the break, as the Baggies further extended their lead through their in-form attacker. A poor back-pass from substitute Danny Simpson allowed Grant to latch onto the loose ball, before firing beyond Bentley for his sixth goal in as many games.

Hugill came inches away from scoring again after he’d beaten Bentley in the away goal, but a recovering defender ensured his shot didn’t cross the line. It didn’t affect the final result, though, as Albion returned to winning ways.

Albion: Johnstone; Ajayi, Bartley, Clarke (Bryan 82); Furlong, Molumby, Snodgrass, Townsend (Reach 85); Phillips (Robinson 61), Hugill, Grant (Diangana 63).

Substitutes: Button, Kipre, Gardner-Hickman.