Norwich City vs West Bromwich Albion

16th September

Steve Bruce will be demanding a positive response at Norwich City on Saturday afternoon after watching his side slip to their first home defeat of the season against Birmingham City on Wednesday night (ko 3pm).

The boss was left "annoyed" and "frustrated" by the performance in midweek, with that setback leaving the Baggies on nine points from their first nine games.

Hosts Norwich City are in fine form and have won their last six Sky Bet Championship matches after a stuttering start saw them sat them bottom of the division with just one point after three games.

The Canaries' latest league victory came on Wednesday night at Carrow Road, a 3-2 triumph over Bristol City.

Albion visit Carrow Road this weekend for the first time since August 2018

Follow the game live

Supporters can listen to live audio commentary of Albion's clash with Norwich City on Saturday afternoon.

WBA Radio pair Gez Mulholland and Andy Johnson will bring you every kick from Carrow Road as the Baggies go in search of their first away win of the campaign.

Commentary will start at 2.45pm. Audio passes can be purchased for £2.50 here.

Albion fans outside the United Kingdom can watch the game live on WBA TV. A video match pass is available to purchase for £10 here.

Live updates will also be posted across the club's social media channels throughout the afternoon.

Our opponents

Norwich City have completely turned their fortunes around recently having been bottom of the division earlier this season after picking up just one point from their first three matches.

Since then, Dean Smith's side have won six consecutive league games, scoring 13 goals in the process - a sequence of results which has helped lift them up to second in the Sky Bet Championship.

The Canaries are the promotion experts when it comes to the second tier. Saturday's opponents have been promoted to the Premier League in four of the last six campaigns in which they have competed in the Championship, including winning the title in their last two terms in 2018/19 and then 2020/21.

Smith, who has previous managerial experience with Walsall, Brentford and Aston Villa, took charge in October last year and although he was unable to prevent Norwich suffering relegation last season, the West Bromwich-born boss has made a strong start to 2022/23, cementing the Canaries' credentials as one of the Championship's title favourites.

They head into Saturday's clash off the back of an entertaining 3-2 home win over Bristol City on Wednesday, with danger man Teemu Pukki bagging a brace and Josh Sargent scoring the other.

The Canaries will be after their seventh straight league win on Saturday

From the Albion Archive

The Baggies came out on top in a seven-goal thriller at Carrow Road in August 2018, claiming an entertaining 4-3 victory against the Canaries.

Jordan Rhodes, Teemu Pukki and Grant Hanley were all on target for the hosts, with Albion's goals coming from Jay Rodriguez (2), Harvey Barnes and Hal Robson-Kanu.

One for the stattos

The Baggies will be hoping to record their fourth successive league win at Carrow Road when they make the trip there on Saturday afternoon.

Albion have beaten Norwich on their own patch in the Premier League in April 2014 (1-0) and October 2015 (1-0), while also earning three Sky Bet Championship points in East Anglia in August 2018 (3-4).

Salomon Rondon scored Albion's winner at Norwich in 2015

Colours for the road

Albion will wear their home kit for the first time on their travels this season.

You can order our home strip here.

17th September

Albion played out a 1-1 draw with Norwich City on Saturday afternoon at Carrow Road.

Dara O'Shea's early header had given the visitors the lead going into the second half, but Sam Byram's controversial leveller meant the points were shared.

The Baggies are next in action on Saturday, October 1, against Swansea City at The Hawthorns.

Boss Steve Bruce handed first starts to Erik Pieters and Brandon Thomas-Asante in East Anglia.

The boys from the Black Country faced a different challenge against the Canaries compared to the one they faced on Wednesday night, with Dean Smith’s men dominating most of the possession during the first 45 - a similar theme of the Baggies’ play during the opening stages of the campaign.

Still, Albion made the most of the opportunities which came their way and on nine minutes, they punished some lapse City defending to take the lead.

John Swift’s looping delivery to the back post found O’Shea all alone, and after beating the offside trap, the defender made no mistake in directing a header past Tim Krul in the home goal to hand the initiative to the visitors.

Dara O'Shea netted his second goal of the season to put Albion ahead at Carrow Road

Good anticipation could’ve earned the Baggies a second goal when Grady Diangana intercepted just outside the Norwich area and fed Swift, inside the box before the midfielder was hauled down by Grant Hanley.

But, unfortunately, referee Thomas Bramall denied the away side a penalty by ignoring the appeals.

For all of Norwich’s control on the ball during the first 45, they only managed a few attempts at goal. Marcelino Núñez smashed two shots from the edge of the box over and Gabriel Sara hit the top of the bar from a tight angle, but Bruce’s side defended well to preserve the lead at half-time.

Albion continued to frustrate the hosts after the break, sending dangerous balls into Diangana’s path down the left flank, and it was they who came closest to finding the next goal.

Jayson Molumby skewed an effort just wide and Thomas-Asante did the same from a similar position, and for all their determined play at the start of the second 45, it was City who levelled matters.

A cutback down the left flank found the Finnish forward Pukki in space on the edge, and his left-footed shot bounced off of Byram to make it 1-1 on 69 minutes, with Albion appeals for hand ball waved away.

Substitute Kieran Dowell sent a shot into keeper David Button's grasp and Conor Townsend produced a fine tackle to deny Josh Sargent as the Baggies absorbed late pressure from the Canaries, but time ran out for a winner as Bruce's men returned to B71 with a point.

Albion: Button; Furlong, O’Shea, Townsend, Pieters; Molumby (Phillips 90+2), Livermore ©, Swift; Diangana (Reach 87), Thomas-Asante (Grant 78), Wallace.

Substitutes: Palmer, Kelly, Gardner-Hickman, Yokuslu.

Saturday 17th September 2022 - 15:00