West Bromwich Albion (H) | Match Preview
The Game
Argyle v West Bromwich Albion. Home Park. Tuesday, 20 February. 7.45pm. Sky Bet Championship.
The Opposition
West Brom are fifth in the league table, with 52 points from 32 games. They have won 15, lost 10 and drawn seven. In their seven league games of 2024, Albion have won three, lost three and drawn one.
They began the year with a 1-0 defeat at Swansea City, then bounced back with a 4-1 win at home to Blackburn Rovers. Another loss on the road followed - 2-0 at Norwich City - before the Baggies' home form paid off again, as they beat local rivals Birmingham City. In their last three games, Albion drew 2-2 at Ipswich Town, beat Cardiff City 2-0 at home, then, last Friday, lost 2-0 at home to Southampton.
The Gaffer
Carlos Corberan took over at the Hawthorns with Albion in the relegation spots in October 2022. As evidenced above, the 40-year-old Spaniard has steadied the ship, taking West Brom up the league last season and has a current win percentage of 46.67%.
As a player, Corberan only played at semi-professional level, having failed to make the grade at Valencia. He started his coaching career as a fitness coach at Villarreal and at several teams in Saudi Arabia, including at Al-Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo's current side, where he rose to the role assistant manager.
Corberan left in November 2016, bound for Cyprus, where he managed Doxa and Ermis. In 2017, he moved to England to be Leeds United's Under-23 coach, and he duties would soon include first-team coaching duties too, under Marcelo Bielsa.
He left Leeds in the summer of 2020, but stayed in Yorkshire, heading to manage Huddersfield Town. After finishing 20th in his first season, he took Huddersfield to third in his second, losing in the play-offs. He resigned soon after, then joined Olympiacos but was sacked after 11 games.
The Squad
Brandon Thomas-Asante leads the Albion goalscoring charts this season, with nine goals. The forward came through the Academy of his hometown club Milton Keynes Dons, left at the expiry of his contract to sign for Ebbsfleet, but almost immediately on to Salford City. He scored 30 goals in 126 games for Salford before moving to West Brom on deadline day in August 2022.
The only player to have taken part in every West Brom league game this season, Darnell Furlong began his career at Queens Park Rangers, one of the teams for whom his father, Paul Furlong, played during his time as a footballer. Unlike centre-forward Paul, Darnell is a full-back who played 72 times for QPR, as well as having loan spells at Northampton Town, Cambridge United and Swindon Town. Furlong left Loftus Road for West Brom in the summer of 2019, and has now racked up 161 games for the Baggies.
Okay Yokuslu (below) first played for West Brom in the 2020/21 season, in a 16-game loan spell in the Premier League, having been borrowed from Spanish side Celta Vigo. After a loan with Getafe the season after, he returned to Albion in the summer of 2022, and has been a fixture in the midfield ever since. Yokuslu has played 39 times for Turkey, and prior to his stint at Celta, played for Turkish sides Altay, Kayserispor and Trabzonspor.
Earlier This Season
The sides met in Argyle's 13th game of the season, at the Hawthorns. The game finished 0-0.
Tickets
If you have a season ticket and cannot attend, you can make your ticket available via the Ticket Exchange and receive face value credit if your ticket is resold. Find out more about the Ticket Exchange.
Argyle TV
Commentary for the game will be provided by Charlie Price and Ian Stonebridge.
Argyle TV’s pre-match show, hosted by Erin Black and Aaron Cusack, will begin at 6.45pm, and is available to watch for free on YouTube.
Match passes to watch this game, wherever you are in the world, can be purchased here.
