Preview: West Bromwich Albion vs Middlesbrough – prediction, team news, line-ups

West Bromwich Albion will be looking to register back-to-back home victories in the Championship when they host Middlesbrough on Saturday. 

It has been far from an ideal start for the Baggies to the new campaign, with the Midlands outfit picking only four points from their first three league encounters. 

However, their confidence is unlikely to be low following their recent display at Leeds United saw them coming away with a hard-earned draw. 

Carlos Corberan’s side took the lead through Brandon Thomas-Asante before a second-half onslaught from the hosts led to Luke Ayling’s equaliser. 

The Elland Road stalemate, coupled with the 3-2 home victory over Swansea City, have moved West Brom to 13th in the standings. 

Their weekend opponents Middlesbrough are certainly not in any better condition. 

With a solitary point, they are currently just above rock-bottom Sheffield Wednesday who have lost all their three games. 

The Yorkshire side suffered an own-goal early in the second-half against Huddersfield Town last week, but they managed to earn a share in the spoils after Hayden Hackney’s strike. 

Preview 

West Bromwich Albion

With no parachute payments from the Premier League, West Brom will find it very hard to seal promotion this term. 

However, they can take some inspiration from Luton Town who performed the incredible feat of promotion last season, despite having a limited budget. 

The Baggies started off their new campaign with a 2-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers. They bounced back to claim a 3-2 victory over Swansea but were held to a 1-1 draw at Leeds in their most recent encounter. 

Middlesbrough 

Middlesbrough came close to sealing Premier League promotion last term after they made it to the playoffs. 

But their top-flight dreams were shattered when Coventry City beat them 1-0 on aggregate in the semi-final. 

Under Michael Carrick, they will push to return to the top-flight once again but the early signs are not looking good at all. 

Boro lost their opening two matches to Millwall and Coventry before playing out a 1-1 draw at the Riverside Stadium. 

Team News 

West Brom don’t have a lot of injury woes this weekend. Grady Diangana’s availability is doubtful after he missed the trip to Elland Road, while Martin Kelly will sit out the game as he hasn’t fully recovered yet. 

Meanwhile, Michael Carrick will not be able to call upon the services of Tommy Smith, Anfernee Dijksteel and Matt Clarke in latest football news for Boro fans. 

West Bromwich Albion vs Middlesbrough potential line-ups 

West Bromwich Albion: Palmer; Furlong, Ajayi, Pieters, Townsend; Yokuslu, Molumby, Phillips, Swift, Wallace; Thomas-Asante

Middlesbrough: Dieng; Van den Berg, Fry, Lenihan, Engel; Howson, Hackney, Forss, Rogers, Silvera; Lath

How to Watch? 

West Bromwich Albion vs Middlesbrough can be watched via live soccer streams online. 

West Bromwich Albion vs Middlesbrough prediction 

There doesn’t look to be a great difference of quality between the two teams and we are expecting a close contest on Saturday. But given the home advantage, West Brom should prevail in the end. 

West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Middlesbrough