Facts and figures for Saturday's Hawthorns clash with Norwich (ko 3pm)
ALBION face a second game in quick succession at The Hawthorns, with Chris Hughton's Norwich the visitors tomorrow afternoon. Here, the stattos over at WhoScored.com take a look at the numbers ahead of the clash.
A barn-storming start to Wednesday's game by Manchester City meant that the Baggies were quickly put on the back foot by Manuel Pellegrini's expensively-assembled team.
Never a team to go down easily, though, Albion fought back, and eventually went close to snatching a draw, despite having been three goals down with only six minutes of normal time to go.
The character and desire to score twice when staring defeat in the face was admirable to say the least, and showed a togetherness and team spirit among Steve Clarke's men that few other Barclays Premier League teams can boast.
Positives can certainly be drawn despite what was ultimately a negative result, in that the Baggies managed 12 attempts on goal and City could only score twice from open play.
This weekend the Canaries, the team with the joint-worst defensive record in England’s top-flight this season, having shipped 28 goals in 14 matches, are the visitors.
Twenty-one of those goals (75 per cent) have come in away games, with the Canaries having lost six of their seven games on the road this term.
All the while, Albion have been impressive at home, with the defeat to City their first in five on their own patch.
Albion have a group of creative midfielders and attackers that have been on fire of late, having only failed to score in one of their last 12 matches in all competitions.
They are capable of breaking down just about any opponent, so when faced with a defence that has crumbled on more than one occasion already this season, there should be more success for them.
Key since signing in the summer, has been Stéphane Sessegnon, who has slotted into the 'number ten' role for the Baggies to great effect.
The Benin international followed up an assist for Saido Berahino's opener against Crystal Palace with a goal of his own to put Albion 2-1 up at Stamford Bridge a week later.
He might not have been directly involved in any of the goals against Villa or Newcastle, but his movement and link-play create space for the likes of Morgan Amalfitano to exploit.
As can be seen from the heat map of his touches of the ball in the Barclays Premier League this season, he moves all over the pitch in search of the ball and often drops deep to collect it.
Driving forward from less advanced positions is arguably his greatest strength, with the midfielder averaging more successful dribbles per game (2.2) than any other team-mate, and the ninth most in the division.
Fresh for this game having been rested for the visit of Man City in midweek, Sessesgnon could be key to a fast start for Steve Clarke's men, as Albion look to return to winning ways.
*WhoScored.com is a unique website and one of the fastest growing in the sports industry, specialising in the in-depth analysis of detailed football data. Provided with unique stats, they compile and create comprehensive analysis on the major European divisions, including live match stats and player ratings. Follow @WhoScored and their editor-in-chief @alitweedale on Twitter.
| PLD | W | D | L | F | A | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOME | 30 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 41 | 24 | 17 |
| AWAY | 26 | 8
| 7 | 11 | 31 | 40 | -9 |
| NEUTRAL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 56 | 23 | 15 | 18 | 72 | 64 | 8 |
Robert Snodgrass opened the scoring in each of last season's meetings between the two clubs.
Albion have won five of their last seven league games against Norwich.
The Canaries have conceded first in each of their last four away matches.
Only bottom-placed Sunderland have shipped as many goals as Norwich (28).
The Baggies have scored twice in each of their last three games at The Hawthorns.
Last time out
HOME: Barclays Premier League, Saturday, December 22, 2012, Albion 2 (Gera 43, Lukaku 82) Norwich 1 (Snodgrass 23)
AWAY: Barclays Premier League, Sunday, May 12, 2013, Norwich 4 (Snodgrass 25, Holt 62, McAuley og 65, Howson 90) Albion 0
Form guide (last six league matches)
ALBION: LWDDLL
NORWICH: DLWLWL
Last league match line-ups
ALBION (v Man City – home L 2-3): Myhill; Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Yacob, Brunt (c); Amalfitano (Vydra 76), Morrison (Gera 64), Berahino; Long (Anichebe 64). Subs not used: L Daniels (gk), Lugano, Popov, Sessegnon.
NORWICH (v Liverpool - away L 5-1): Ruddy; Martin, R Bennett, Bassong (c), Olsson; Fer (Whittaker 72), Johnson, Howson; Hoolahan (Josh Murphy 62), Redmond, Elmander (Hooper 69). Subs not used: Nash (gk), Turner, Garrido, Becchio.
Striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel is again ruled out with a toe muscle injury.
Ref watch
Mark Clattenburg will referee Saturday's game. The Durham official last oversaw the Baggies in their 2-1 home defeat by Arsenal in April. Clattenburg has dished out 42 yellow and no red cards in 13 games this term.
Betting
Selected odds from Sky Bet:
Albion to win: 17/20
Norwich to win: 16/5
Draw: 5/2
Shane Long to score first: 9/2
Gary Cooper to score first: 9/1
To make a bet with the club's official betting partner, click here.
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