Albion Under-21s remain in the hunt for their first Premier League 2 win of the season, with the next opportunity to claim one coming on Friday afternoon against Leeds United (ko 1pm).
Their tussle with the Whites marks the start of an extremely busy month for the young Baggies, with Leigh Downing's troops playing six fixtures across four different competitions during October.
Last time out
Albion were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Tottenham Hotspur in their previous PL2 match.
It was a game with few clearcut openings for the club's academy hopefuls, but shot-stopper Brian Okonkwo was certainly kept busy - as just two of his impressive stops below prove!
Bodies on the line from our PL2 side against Spurs. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/jX7nmaIcfn
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) September 29, 2025
Venue
Albion U21s will play their first game of the 2025/26 campaign at their recently-renamed training ground, The Fitlife Foods Performance Centre.
Pre-match thoughts
Baggies PL2 boss Leigh Downing says he'll be looking to add some "freshness" to his starting XI on Friday afternoon.
Albion's 21s were defeated in their maiden PL International Cup match on Tuesday night and, therefore, are having to manage their workload with another match around the corner against Leeds.
For this reason, Downing is keen to utilise the options in his ranks in the hope of not only posing more of a threat to their West Yorkshire counterparts, but also of improving their chances of obtaining a positive outcome.
"Two-game weeks are always good for the players," said Albion's PL2 boss.
"It’s about them pushing their bodies and having to rest and recover properly, which is how it would be if they were making the step into first-team football.
"We created plenty of chances in our last match on Tuesday night and if one of those goes in, then the game might have had a different outcome.
"But it seems to be going that way for us at the minute, where we can’t just get that last bit right at the top end of the pitch.
"The players are working hard in training and we’ve had some good spells in games, but we have to put together a complete performance for 90 minutes.
"That’s the challenge I’ve set the players. We've had some really big games already, which has been great for the players to test themselves in, and we keep looking forward to the challenges ahead.
"There will be opportunities for some of the other players who perhaps didn’t feature in the International Cup on Friday, and their freshness will add something to the team which, hopefully, can help us fight for a positive result."
How to follow
Tickets will be unavailable for Friday's match against the Leeds United at The Fitlife Foods Performance Centre.
A live stream will not be provided for the match. Fans can follow updates on the game across the club's social media channels.
