STAR PREVIEW: West Brom v Stoke

There’s a long way to go in the Championship but tonight’s game between West Brom and Stoke has potentially huge consequences at either end of the table. West Brom haven’t won in five Championship games, bringing the rest of the chasing pack much closer to them – third placed Fulham are just five points behind West Brom now and there are a whole host of sides just queuing up to take one of the two automatic promotion spots, with six points separating Fulham (3rd) to Sheffield Wednesday (10th).

Despite goals from Kenneth Zohore and Hal Robson-Kanu, they drew 2-2 at Charlton when they won the shot count 19-7, another frustrating result but at least a better performance compared to defeat against Middlesbrough, and draws with Barnsley and Brentford. They lost the shots on target count comprehensively against Middlesbrough (Boro won the shot count 10-5) and Barnsley thoroughly deserved their point after winning the shot count 22-8 and the shots on target count 8-2).

West Brom v Stoke City
Championship
20:00 Sky Sports Football / Sky Sports Main Event / Sky Sports Ultra HD

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches, Since 2010)
NOV 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP Stoke 0-2 West Brom
FEB 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP Stoke 0-1 West Brom
DEC 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP West Brom 2-1 Stoke
DEC 2017 PREMIER LEAGUE Stoke 3-1 West Brom
AUG 2017 PREMIER LEAGUE West Brom 1-1 Stoke
FEB 2017 PREMIER LEAGUE West Brom 1-0 Stoke
SEP 2016 PREMIER LEAGUE Stoke 1-1 West Brom
JAN 2016 PREMIER LEAGUE West Brom 2-1 Stoke
AUG 2015 PREMIER LEAGUE Stoke 0-0 West Brom
MAR 2015 PREMIER LEAGUE West Brom 1-0 Stoke
DEC 2014 PREMIER LEAGUE Stoke 2-0 West Brom

Stoke did not look terribly threatening against Millwall when they landed only one shot on target in a 0-0 draw but they have improved a great deal since Michael O’Neill’s arrival, winning five of their twelve games under him.

Before their draw at Millwall, they’d romped home at Huddersfield with a flood of second half goals and they’d performed with credit when going down only 1-0 at Fulham – a defeat which followed a 3-2 win over Sheffield United.

They are clearly improved since the new arrival with Sam Vokes and Sam Cluclas looking much more lively whilst James McClean has responded well to the new manager too. West Brom – who have had 15 different scorers this season and boast a strike force of Hal Robson-Kanu, Charlie Austin and Kenneth Zohore – boast more forward power but recent defensive issues have shown themselves and this could be a game for goals.

West Brom’s league matches at The Hawthorns have seen an average of 3.77 goals per game and Stoke have improved their goal scoring under Michael O’Neill – they’ve scored 11 goals in six matches, and they’ve found the net in eight of their twelve games under his tenure.

West Brom’s last clean sheet came at Preston on the 2nd December and since then they’ve conceded in eight games, and the 17/20 on both teams scoring is the most appealing option on offer.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)
BACK BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE 5 pts win at 17/20 with starsports.bet

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