Lions up next as Baggies look to cement play-off position

West Bromwich Albion v Millwall; The Hawthorns, Saturday 7th November 2026, 3pm

Albion entertain Millwall at the Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon in the final match before the November international break looking to continue their recent run of form that has seen them win three and draw two of the last five games. It has been a good response to the back-to-back derby defeats from James Morrison’s team and, with Alex Neil’s side struggling for form with just four points from the last five, it is a game that Baggies fans will expect to win.

The Lions have been a tough nut to crack in recent years, however, with the last four meetings at the Hawthorns finishing goalless, and they will be facing central defensive pairing of not only Jake Cooper, who has scored against Albion in each of the last two seasons, but also Baggies academy product Caleb Taylor who has been an ever-present for Millwall in the Championship this season.

Having missed out on automatic promotion by just one point last season, Millwall were beaten by eventual play-off winners Hull City in the semi-final and their start to this season will be something of a disappointment. Alex Neil’s squad has been plagued with injuries with Josh Coburn, Tristan Crama, Casper De Norre, Mihailo Ivanović, Ryan Leonard and Massimo Luongo all having missed several matches this season. Leonard and Crama are the Wall’s two right backs and are expected to be missing this weekend, as they were for the 3-0 defeat at St Andrew’s in midweek.

For Albion, George Campbell will miss out as expected, but the good news is that the injury is not serious and he should be fit after the international break, albeit the American will be disappointed to miss out on the opportunity to play for his country once again. Nat Phillips’ unconvincing display off the bench on Tuesday is obviously a cause for concern, but I’m sure Mozza will trust one of his most experienced players to rediscover his confidence quickly after having had time this week to work on his partnership with Chris Mepham – the two have only started one game together this season, the draw with QPR.

Other than that change, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the same starting line up. There would be no reason to change what has been an effective attacking unit unless the medical staff deem any of them to be in need of a rest. Tammer Bany was definitely a bright spark off the bench against the Saints and I would like to see him given some more minutes in the coming weeks. Kareem Tunde picked up a foot injury last week and will miss out, while Mikey Johnston remains sidelined but is reportedly only two or three weeks away from what would be a very welcome return.

Having lost their last match before the previous international break, James Morrison will be eager to go into this one more positively. A victory should see them move into the top five with two of the sides above them, Birmingham City and Swansea City, playing one another this weekend, while a top two spot could be on offer should results go Albion’s way. After Middlesbrough were beaten at Wrexham on Wednesday, only the two south coast neighbours, Southampton (6) and Portsmouth (6), can boast longer unbeaten records than the Baggies’ five matches without defeat in the Championship, but another statement victory like the one at West Ham last week would certainly make the rest of the division sit up and take note.

After a couple of poor seasons, it’s about time we reminded the Championship that Albion are back and challenging at the top of the table. Beating one of last season’s leading teams would certainly help on that front.

History

It is somewhat surprising that it has been eight years since the Baggies recorded a home victory over Millwall and more than six since they beat the Lions on their own patch. That last Albion win in this fixture was a memorable encounter during the onslaught of Storm Ciara in early February 2020 when none of us really knew what COVID was! Goals from Filip Krovinović and Dara O’Shea kept Bilić’s Baggies on the road to promotion in a windy South Bermondsey – little did we know that the promotion wouldn’t be confirmed for another seven months.

Albion’s last win over the Lions at the Hawthorns was back in September 2018 when Darren Moore’s team were firing on all cylinders and goals from Dwight Gayle and Kieran Gibbs earned the hosts a 2-0 victory – they would go top of the league the following weekend with a 3-2 win at Preston.

In recent years, however, Millwall have enjoyed a measure of success against the Baggies avoid defeat in the last ten matches albeit seven of those have ended all square. All three of the Lions’ wins in that period have come at the Den, and their last win at the Shrine was in the League Cup in August 2019. Their last league win at the Hawthorns was on a rare Thursday evening match in October 2001 – Gary Megson was particularly angry about the fixture scheduling to meet the needs of the now long defunct ITV Digital, with his team having played Charlton Athletic in the League Cup two days earlier. Mark McGhee’s team won 2-0 thanks to a brace from Richard Sadlier.

Albion’s biggest win over Millwall came on Boxing Day 1929 and it was a memorable day for a man that would become a club legend. A young man called Billy Richardson had been signed in the summer from Hartlepools United (the ‘s’ is not a typo, that was the club’s original name) for £1,000 and had been scoring for fun in the reserves that season, ending up with 50 goals for the campaign. He would become known as WG Richardson, the “G” standing for Ginger, to differentiate him from the other Bill Richardson who was already at the club. Leading striker, Jimmy Cookson, picked up a knock and was unavailable for the visit of Millwall on Boxing Day – “WG” took his chance and scored on his debut in a 6-1 victory with Tommy Glidden (2), Joe Carter (2) and Stan Wood the other scorers for the hosts. The youngster would score once more that season but would become established as the main number nine the following season scoring a brace in the 1931 FA Cup Final and scoring 18 league goals in Albion’s promotion campaign. His tally of 40 goals in 1935/36 remains a club record total for a season, almost matched by Bob Taylor who managed 37 in 1992/93.

Stat Attack

Current Form

All competitions; most recent game on the right

Last matches

Last meeting

11 Apr 2026 – League Championship
West Bromwich Albion 0
Millwall 0

Last win

9 Feb 2020 – League Championship
Millwall 0
West Bromwich Albion 2 (Krovinović, O’Shea)

Last win at the Hawthorns

22 Sep 2018 – League Championship
West Bromwich Albion 2 (Gayle, Gibbs)
Millwall 0

Albion’s Record against Millwall