Match Previews

Stoke City v Albion match preview

ALBION make the short trip to the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday to take on Stoke City in a crucial Premier League clash (3pm ko).

The opposition 

Stoke currently sit one place outside the relegation zone in 17th place having accumulated 16 points from their first 18 matches.

Despite a reasonable start to the season that saw them beat Arsenal and draw with Manchester United as part of their opening four fixtures, they are now currently on a three game losing streak.

Their most recent match was at home to West Ham last weekend, where goals from Mark Noble, Marko Arnautovic and Diafra Sakho confined them to a 3-0 defeat.

Last time out 

We have already faced Stoke once this season, back in August, when a late equaliser from Peter Crouch cancelled out Jay Rodriguez’s opener to see the sides draw 1-1 at The Hawthorns.

Rodriguez celebrates scoring his first Albion goal in the Premier League against Stoke

Stats

Albion

  • The Baggies have won four and drawn two of their last six games against Stoke.
  • Salomon Rondon will make his 100th Albion appearance if he plays any part of Saturday’s game. Gareth McAuley could also make his 200th PL appearance for the Baggies, and Allan Nyom is in line to potentially make his 50th PL appearance for the Club.
  • Alan Pardew’s men have drawn the most games in the league this campaign (eight).

Stoke City

  • Stoke have lost five of their last six matches and conceded the most goals in the PL so far this season.
  • They have conceded the first goal in each of their last five games.
  • The Potters have kept one clean sheet in their last 16 Premier League outings.

From the archive

Salomon Rondon headed Albion to a 1-0 victory over Stoke in 2015.

Head to head 

The head-to-head record is reasonably close between the two sides, though it is Stoke who come out on top.

Of the 142 meetings, Albion have won 46 times, there have been 37 draws and The Potters have been victorious on 59 occasions.

Man in the middle

The referee for Saturday’s match is Neil Swarbrick, and he’ll be assisted by Scott Ledger and Adrian Holmes - with Chris Kavanagh as the fourth official.

It will be the first time that Swarbrick has officiated Albion this season.

Ticket news

Albion have SOLD OUT their allocation for this fixture.

Follow the game

Comprehensive coverage of the clash with Stoke is available in our Match Centre, where you can listen to free live commentary on WBA Radio or follow our live text feed.

WBA Radio is the only service that allows Baggies fans around the world - from Smethwick to the Sahara - access to uninterrupted live commentaries from every one of our competitive games. Join Gez Mulholland and Dave Bowler for Baggies-biased live commentary on Saturday.

You’ll also be able to find score updates on the club's social media channels.

Twitter - @WBA

Facebook - West Bromwich Albion

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