West Bromwich Albion (A) | Match Preview

The Game
West Bromwich Albion v Argyle. The Hawthorns. Saturday, 21 October. 3pm. Sky Bet Championship.

The Opposition
In their 12 games this season, in all competitions, West Bromwich Albion have had an equal number of wins, draws and losses. They began with at 2-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers before losing to Stoke City in the Carabao Cup by the same scoreline. Albion ended August strongly with home wins against Swansea City (3-2) and Middlesbrough (4-2) either side of a 1-1 draw at Leeds United, then lost 2-1 at home to Huddersfield Town. 

There followed a run of three consecutive draws; 0-0 efforts at Bristol City and at home to Millwall, with a 2-2 at Watford in between. West Brom's standout result of the season was a 4-0 win at high-flying Preston North End, followed three days later with a 1-0 win at home to Sheffield Wednesday. Most recently, before the international window, Albion lost 3-1 at Birmingham City. 

Accumulating 16 points from their 11 games places West Brom in 11th place at this stage, following their ninth-placed finish last season, three points outside the Championship play-off spots. 

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
West Brom's top goalscorer is John Swift, with six goals already to his name, but he is likely to miss this game via injury. 

Alex Mowatt, the former Barnsley man who spent last season on loan at Middlesbrough, is a candidate to replace Swift. Mowatt (pictured below) has four starts and five substitute appearances to his name this season, and might have a chance to shine. His only goal this season came in Albion's win at Preston. 

First-choice goalkeeper at the Hawthorns is Alex Palmer. Kidderminster-born Palmer, 27, has been associated with West Brom throughout his career. Coming through the ranks of the club, he had a series of short loan spells out, but it was with Argyle that he had his breakthrough season. He impressed in the Greens' goal during Argyle's promotion season of 2019/20, then had a season in nets on loan at Lincoln City. 

He got into the West Brom team last season, replacing another former Argyle loanee, David Button, and is now firmly first-choice goalkeeper. 

Fancy a Stat?
Argyle scored nine hat-tricks in the 1990s - and two of them were against West Brom. Sean McCarthy scored all three goals in a 3-0 away win in April 1990, and Steve Castle bagged three when the Greens won 5-2 at the Hawthorns in 1993. 

The History
The two sides have only met 37 times in their histories. Argyle have won 15, Albion 14, with eight draws. In the six games between the sides in Argyle's last Championship stint, Albion won five, with one draw. The most recent encounter came in February 2010, with West Brom winning 1-0 at Home Park.  

A Strip for the Trip
Argyle will be wearing their green home kit for this game. 

Tickets
Tickets for this game are sold out for Argyle supporters. 

Argyle TV
Argyle TV’s pre-match show, with Charlie Price and Aaron Cusack, will begin at 2pm, and is available to watch for free on YouTube. Commentary will be provided from the Hawthorns from Rob McNichol and Ryan Brunt. International supporters can buy a match pass to watch the game, here.