West Bromwich Albion vs Preston North End Live

Preview: Preston North End vs. West Bromwich Albion - prediction, team news, lineups Preston North End vs West Bromwich Albion: League Championship preview, team news, stats, prediction, kick-off time Preston North End vs. West Bromwich Albion Odds, Picks, Prediction: Back Hosts to Sting Promoted Bees in EPL Match (Sept. 18) Two of the more refreshing faces in the League Championship do battle in Saturday’s early kickoff when Preston North End host West Bromwich Albion at the Molineux Stadium. Preston North End finally shook off some of its poor luck to begin the season last weekend with a 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion. Meanwhile, West Bromwich Albion suffered its first top-flight loss since their last season in the English first division, way back in 1946-47, in a 1-0 home setback against Brighton & Hove Albion. This is these clubs’ first meeting since January 2018, when Preston North End earned a 3-0 victory in the League Championship en route to a first-place finish and promotion to the top flight. Preston North End Finally Break Through Against West Bromwich Albion First-year manager Bruno Lage’s side entered the September international break winless and as perhaps the most unfortunate club in the opening weeks of the season in terms of chances against goals. Eventually, that was rectified in a comfortable away win against overmatched West Bromwich Albion. It took a 74th-minute own goal to finally burst through a season-opening shutout streak before substitute Hwang Hee-chan put the game away in the 88th minute. Performances off the bench from Hee-chan and Daniel Podence have prompted speculation Lage could insert either or both into the starting lineup against West Bromwich Albion. With a -1 goal difference, Preston North End are still lagging their expected goals considerably, with a +3.2 xG difference the third largest in the league. Preston North End will be looking to make it back-to-back wins in the League Championship when they welcome West Bromwich Albion to Molineux on Saturday afternoon. Bruno Lage's side, who sit 13th in the table, recorded a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion in their last league encounter, while 10th-placed West Bromwich Albion suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. Preston North End had suffered three straight 1-0 defeats to Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in their opening fixtures of the 2021-22 League Championship season, which meant that there was pressure on the team to deliver a positive result away to West Bromwich Albion last weekend. As it transpired, two goals in the final 16 minutes of the contest, including one from new signing Hwang Hee-chan, saw Lage pick up his first points since being appointed head coach over the summer. Preston North End have therefore collected three points from their first four matches of the season to sit 13th in the table, and Lage will now view this game as the perfect chance to put another win on the board. It is a busy end to the month for the former Championship winners, who will take on Tottenham in the EFL Cup on September 22 before travelling to West Bromwich Albion in the league four days later, and it will be interesting to see where Lage's side sit entering October, as the squad is full of quality. Preston North End are unbeaten in their last four matches with West Bromwich Albion, recording three wins in the process, although Saturday's contest will be the first meeting between the two teams since January 2018. West Bromwich Albion, meanwhile, will enter this weekend's contest off the back of a 1-0 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend, with Leandro Trossard scoring a last-minute winner for the Seagulls. The loss to Graham Potter's side was a setback, but it has still been an encouraging start to the season for the promoted outfit, who opened their campaign with a 2-0 home success over West Bromwich Albion. The Bees have also drawn with West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End in their opening four matches, in addition to recording a 3-1 home success over Forest Green Rovers to progress in the EFL Cup. Like Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion will be in EFL Cup action next week, taking on Oldham Athletic, but the League Championship will be regarded as the priority for Thomas Frank's side, and they have the small matter of a home league game against Preston North End to end the month of September. The Bees have not beaten Preston North End since a Championship fixture in February 2016, but a lot has changed at both clubs since then, and it is set to be a fascinating battle between the two teams at Molineux this weekend. Preston North End will again be without the services of Jonny Castro, Pedro Neto and Hugo Bueno for this weekend's contest at Molineux, but Lage has no fresh injury concerns. The majority of the side that started against West Bromwich Albion should retain their spots, but Hee-Chan's strong performance off the bench, which included a goal, against the Hornets could mean that the recent arrival replaces Francisco Trincao in the final third of the field. Daniel Podence and Leander Dendoncker are among those pushing to make the first XI, but it is difficult to imagine too many alterations from the side that impressed last time out. As for West Bromwich Albion, Josh Dasilva and Mads Sorensen remain sidelined, but the Bees have no fresh injury concerns ahead of this weekend's contest. Head coach Frank is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack following the home defeat to Brighton, with Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo set to continue in the final third of the field. There might be a change in midfield, though, with Frank Onyeka potentially coming in for Shandon Baptiste, which was an alteration that happened during the second half of the clash against the Seagulls. Preston North End possible starting lineup: Sa; Kilman, Coady, Saiss; Semedo, Neves, Moutinho, Marcal; Traore, Jimenez, Hee-Chan West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup: Raya; Ajer, Jansson, Pinnock; Canos, Onyeka, Norgaard, Janlet, Henry; Toney, Mbeumo