West Brom v Burnley: Both sides to oblige at The Hawthorns

West Brom fail to fire at Wigan

West Brom were held to a fifth draw in seven Championship outings this season on Tuesday night at Wigan. The Baggies continued their concerning trait of conceding first in games as the newly-promoted hosts led early on following a Semi Ajayi error; the Albion defender then pulled up unopposed and needed to be replaced after only 20 minutes of action.

Steve Bruce's side did level proceedings midway through the first-half as Karlan Grant intercepted a careless pass and punished Wigan for the error as he drove forward before finding the bottom corner with a low shot from the edge of the box. But both sides were limited to half chances to win the clash after the break in an uninspiring encounter.

Post-match Bruce admitted it was a "frustrating night for us, because we simply didn't play well enough to win the match." He added, "It's arguably as poor as we've played, and that's the way it is. We couldn't find the answers to be able to break through, we didn't pass it well enough, and we didn't have nearly enough penetration."

Burnley go back-to-back

Vincent Kompany oversaw his first win at home as Burnley head coach, with second-half goals from Vitinho and Jay Rodriguez earning the Clarets a hard-fought 2-0 victory against Millwall in midweek. The Turf Moor team had to wait until after the hour mark to break the deadlock and the home boss was pleased with the patience shown by his players.

Kompany said, "We were patient. When you say that, sometimes people think slow, but that wasn't it, we kept a nice tempo. There was consistency, we took our time to build our attacks and eventually we just needed that one chance for the game open up for us. When that happened we still had the right habits, so it was a good football match for us."

Millwall goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski made a decisive double save to keep it goalless at the break, keeping out Johann Gudmundsson's free-kick and Charlie Taylor's effort on the rebound. After the interval, Brazilian Vitinho ghosted in unmarked at the far post to head the hosts in front before Rodriguez pounced to double the advantage and secure the points.

Clarets preferred at the prices

West Brom and Burnley face-off for the first time since 2020/21 when the duo were Premier League teams; that campaign, the duo played out back-to-back goalless draws. It means Albion have suffered a solitary reverse in eight league meetings with the Clarets (W4-D4-L1) since 2007, with the Baggies boasting an W8-D2-L1 home head-to-head record since 1969.

West Brom 2.3611/8 have registered just one Championship success thus far (W1-D5-L1) despite dominating the data during the opening exchanges. Albion have won the non-penalty Expected Goals (npxG) battle five times, and sit inside the top-six for all major attacking metrics but Steve Bruce's side have only twice scored multiple goals in a match.

Burnley 3.309/4 have secured back-to-back league triumphs coming into this tussle with the Clarets and are proving to be a tough nut to crack under Vincent Kompany's watch (W3-D3-L1). The visitors have notched 10 goals in their most recent three outings, and given little away in terms of opportunities for the opposition during the same sample.

Back both sides to oblige

Only three of West Brom's first seven showdowns have broken the Over 2.5 Goals 2.1011/10 barrier with The Hawthorns failing to reach the three-goal threshold in two of the three such fixtures in 2021/22. However, Albion have delivered successful Both Teams To Score 1.834/5 selections in six of their overall seven matches and a repeat holds plenty of appeal.

Burnley have fired a solitary blank since returning to the second-tier and their midweek clean sheet at Millwall was only the second occasion the Clarets have shut their opposition out. BTTS has been the right play in four of those seven dates, whilst the two teams on display are each averaging over 1.20 npxG per-game during the early season exchanges.

Punters looking for a bit more bang for their buck may wish to consider the 2.5531/20 available via the Bet Builder on Burnley Double Chance and Both Teams To Score.