West Bromwich Albion vs Burnley

1st September

West Bromwich Albion's first September fixture sees recently-relegated Burnley head to The Hawthorns on Friday night (ko 8pm).

The Baggies return to B71 having played their last three games away from home at Derby County, Huddersfield Town and Wigan Athletic.

Steve Bruce's men have drawn five of their seven opening league matches and the experienced boss will want to see his side start turning one-point returns into three-point returns as soon as possible.

Visitors Burnley, who are managed by former Belgium and Man City defender Vincent Kompany, are back in the second tier after spending six successive seasons in the Premier League.

The Clarets have made a decent start to the campaign and have collected 12 points from their seven games. Kompany's side earned a comfortable 2-0 home win over Millwall on Tuesday in their most recent match.

Albion have picked up five points at home so far this season

Follow the match live

Listen to every kick of Albion’s clash with the Clarets with a WBA TV Matchday audio pass.

WBA Radio duo Gez Mulholland and Andy Johnson will provide live commentary from The Hawthorns. Audio passes can be purchased for £2.50 by clicking here.

Our opponents

Burnley will have their sights firmly set on bouncing back to the top table of English football at the first time of asking this season.

The Clarets are competing in the Championship for the first time since 2015/16 and new boss Vincent Kompany is determined to lead Burnley back to the big time.

Kompany, a four-time Premier League winner with Manchester City in his illustrious playing days, was appointed in the summer having previously managed Belgian side Anderlecht for two years.

The legendary defender quickly moved to sign a host of new players and Burnley will be satisfied with their start, with the Clarets having the opportunity to go top should they triumph in the West Midlands this weekend.

Burnley have won their last two games and sit third ahead of kick-off on 12 points from seven matches.

Vincent Kompany is the man tasked with leading Burnley back to the top flight

From the Albion Archive

Albion beat Burnley 4-0 in a Premier League clash in September 2014 at The Hawthorns.

Craig Dawson, Saido Berahino (2) and Graham Dorrans were all on target.

One for the stattos

The two sides will go head-to-head in a Championship game for the first time since February 2008 on Friday night.

The Baggies last met the Clarets in the second tier at The Hawthorns over 14 years ago on a day where goals from Bostjan Cesar and Roman Bednar helped them come from behind to beat Burnley who had taken an early lead through James O'Connor.

Roman Bednar bagged the winner the last time Albion played Burnley in the Championship

Fan Zone

Our Fan Zone will be open from 5pm for the visit of Burnley on Friday night.

Supporters of both clubs with a match ticket or a season ticket can enjoy live music on stage, prize giveaways, meeting club mascots, inflatable football games, bars serving soft drinks and alcohol and stands serving hot food.

Club legend Chris Brunt will be the special guest in attendance, talking through some of his favourite stories from around 7pm onwards.

2nd September

Albion earned a deserved point at The Hawthorns courtesy of Brandon Thomas-Asante's added time equaliser against Burnley.

Despite numerous chances throughout the night for the Baggies, it looked as though Jay Rodriguez’s first-half penalty would be enough to earn the away side all three Sky Bet Championship points.

But it was to be a debut goal for Thomas-Asante which would earn the Baggies a share of the spoils after he scrambled home a last-gasp leveller to create joyous scenes at B71.

Steve Bruce’s men face a trip to Coventry City next weekend.

The manager made one change to his starting XI, bringing Taylor Gardner-Hickman in to replace the injured Semi Ajayi.

And Albion began brightly – with Jed Wallace and Dara O’Shea sending efforts off-target and John Swift curling straight at Arijanet Muric.

The Baggies came close to netting the opener twice in quick succession around the 20-minute mark when Conor Townsend’s back-post volley was saved, and Kyle Bartley nodded the resulting corner against the crossbar.

Yet it was Burnley who took the lead. Nathan Tella raced through and was judged to have been brought down by David Button, and former Albion striker Rodriguez converted the resulting penalty.

Albion rallied and created two more good opportunities ahead of half-time, but Dara O’Shea couldn’t guide his close-range flick past Muric and Wallace smashed a finish into the post.

It was more of the same after the interval as Grady Diangana and Kyle Bartley headed crosses wide, and Muric comfortably saved Wallace’s side-footer.

Bruce turned to new signing Brandon Thomas-Asante in the midst of his team’s desperate search for a leveller.

Though Burnley struck the post in a rare breakaway, Albion threw everything at their opponents. Substitute Jake Livermore poked wide shortly after coming on before Wallace, well placed in the box, saw a shot bravely blocked by a Clarets defender.

And as it looked as though another strong performance was to yield no return for the hosts, Thomas-Asante ensured it wasn't to be the case, taking advantage of a scramble in the box before seeing his shot beat substitute goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell to create rapturous scenes at The Hawthorns.

Albion: Button; Gardner-Hickman (Phillips 79), Bartley (Thomas-Asante 70), O’Shea, Townsend; Molumby (Livermore 79), Yokuslu; Wallace, Swift, Diangana; Grant.

Substitutes: Palmer, Ashworth, Reach, Zohore.

Attendance: 22,303

Friday 2nd September 2022 - 20:00