Albion kick off third successive Championship campaign at Blackburn

Blackburn Rovers v West Bromwich Albion; Ewood Park, Saturday 5th August 2023, 3pm

For the first time in the 21st century, Albion kick off a third successive season in the second tier on Saturday with a trip to Ewood Park. The financial implications of a third season outside the Premier League have become clear over the summer as the club have been forced to balance the books in the transfer market with skipper, Dara O’Shea, sold to Burnley and the only two incomings so far being a free transfer and a loan signing. Meanwhile, the Baggies’ promotion rivals, assuming you believe they remain in the promotion race, have been spending big.

The biggest reason for optimism at the Hawthorns is head coach, Carlos Corberán. Had the record under the Spaniard’s tenure been replicated over a full season, Albion would have amassed 79 points, good enough for a comfortable fourth placed finish and, with O’Shea the only first choice player to leave so far, you could argue that the squad is a little bit stronger with the additions of Maja and Sarmiento. Obviously, there could be further outgoings before the window closes at the end of August, but I remain optimistic that they squad is capable of a top six finish with Corberán in charge for the full season.

Albion’s start to the season is tough with their first four league games against one relegated team and three sides who finished in the top ten last season. Their first opponents may not provide the same threat as last season, however, as Jon Dahl Tomasson has lost his primary goalscoring threat over the summer. Ben Brereton Díaz scored more than a quarter of Rovers’ league goals last season but has moved to Villareal. Baggies fans may breathe a sigh of relief with the Chile international having scored in three of the last four meetings between the teams.

Bradley Dack, a player that had been linked with a move to the Hawthorns in the past, has also left to join Sunderland on a free transfer. With Sam Gallagher likely to miss Saturday’s game through injury, it leaves Tomasson a little light up front with Niall Ennis, a summer free transfer from Plymouth Argyle, and youngster, Jack Vale, the only recognised centre forwards available.

Tomasson has also added two international midfielders to his squad, both on free transfers – Norwegian Sondre Tronstad has joined from Vitesse and Iceland’s Arnór Sigurðsson has moved from CSKA Moscow although he was on loan in Sweden last season while the contract with the Russian club was suspended.

For Corberán, his two new signings are unlikely to start on Saturday. Sarmiento is still recovering from a broken metatarsal picked up on international duty in March and only returned to training a week before his move to the Hawthorns, while Maja hasn’t had a full pre-season having been a free agent over the summer. Both could well play some part from the bench but the starting line-up is likely to be similar to the one that was beaten by Bolton Wanderers in the final pre-season friendly last weekend.

Adam Reach has been ruled out for several months but Jayson Molumby’s absence from the team at Bolton was precautionary and he should be available for selection. Matt Phillips was a key player in the excellent run of form early in Corberán’s tenure and his return to the side will be a big boost, while the return of Caleb Taylor, Cédic Kipré and Alex Mowatt to the squad after their loan spells last season certainly gives the Spaniard a few more options. With Championship clubs able to name nine substitutes this season, Corberán will be able to give himself lots of choice from the bench.

Pre-season results haven’t been overly positive but they are rarely much of an indicator of early season form. Given where they finished last season, any sort of result at Blackburn would be a decent start but, as we found out in the last campaign, pre-season predictions of teams’ performances can be hugely unreliable.

History

Blackburn Rovers met Albion for the first in the FA Cup 6th Round in February 1885 – only the local derby against Aston Villa has a longer history for the Baggies – the match took place at Albion’s Four Acres ground and the visitors won 2-0 on their way to retaining the trophy. The two clubs met in the final the following season with Rovers victorious once again after a replay while the first league meeting came in September 1888 at Rovers’ Leamington Road ground, 6-2 to the hosts on that occasion.

That first league match is the only time that Blackburn have netted six times against Albion but their biggest margin of victory came the following season in November 1889 when they won 5-0, also at Leamington Road.

It wasn’t until 1896 that Albion won in Blackburn by which time Rovers had moved to their current home, Ewood Park. It was, once again, in the FA Cup with William Richards and John Richards scoring Albion’s goals in a 2-1 victory.

The Baggies’ biggest win at Blackburn came in January 1920 when an Alf Bentley hat trick and further strikes from Fred Morris and Howard Gregory gave the soon-to-be champions a 5-1 victory. It was a result that left Albion three points clear of second-placed Burnley with two games in hand. As the Baggies won their only league title at the end of the campaign, Rovers finished 20th, escaping relegation by one point.

Albion have had the edge in recent seasons winning four of the last ten, of which Rovers have won two – two of the Baggies’ victories in that time have come at Ewood Park, 2-1 in December 2011 in the Premier League and by the same score in August 2021 when Alex Mowatt scored a memorable volley from the edge of the box.

Before that Albion had won just two of the previous sixteen games dating back to the early 1990s – before the win in 2011, the Baggies had not won at Ewood Park since February 1991 when Gary Robson and Don Goodman (2) helped Albion to a 3-0 win under caretaker manager, Stuart Pearson – it was not long after Woking and Bobby Gould would take the reins a fortnight later only to guide Albion inexorably to Division Three!

Stat Attack

Current Form

All competitions; most recent game on the right

Last matches

Last meeting

15 Feb 2023 – League Championship
West Bromwich Albion 1 (Molumby)
Blackburn Rovers 1 (Brereton Díaz)

Last meeting at Blackburn Rovers

14 Aug 2022 – League Championship
Blackburn Rovers 2 (Brereton Díaz, Gallagher)
West Bromwich Albion 1 (Diangana)

Last win

21 Aug 2021 – League Championship
Blackburn Rovers 1 (Brereton Díaz)
West Bromwich Albion 2 (Mowatt, Phillips)

Albion’s Record against Blackburn Rovers