Can West Brom defend their top spot in the table?

Six matchdays after the start of the season in the English Championship, the two teams relegated from the Premier League, Fulham and West Brom, are in the top two positions. The latter even lead the table in the second division and already have 14 points to their name. The “Baggies” now want to defend their pole position in the promotion race during the week.

On Tuesday evening, the Championship leaders will play Derby County at home. In contrast to the hosts from the West Midlands, the Rams have made a false start so far, picking up just one win in the first six matchdays. With only six points in their account, Derby are currently 16th in the table.

As expected, the best bookmakers see the visitors as underdogs. Meanwhile, odds of 6.90 are offered on an away win for West Brom vs. Derby, while betting odds in the region of 1.50 are offered on the home side.

The last time the two sides met at West Bromwich Albion’s Hawthorns, the hosts edged Derby County 2-0. Now, for the first time since February 2010, the “Baggies” are looking to celebrate two home wins in a row against their upcoming opponents and thus defend their top spot in the table by their own efforts.

West Brom – Statistics & current form

The mission “promotion” could hardly have started better for West Bromwich Albion. After all, West Brom not only remained unbeaten in the first six matchdays, but also picked up the most points in the Championship so far. In six games, the Baggies already have four wins and two draws to their name.

Fulham FC, however, are close on WBA’s heels. The West Londoners, meanwhile, have only one point less on their account than the leaders. Accordingly, a loss of points during the week would be fatal for the “Baggies”. Last weekend, head coach Valerien Ismael’s team surprisingly dropped points.

Although WBA even led for a while at home against Millwall, the Ismael eleven only managed a draw in the end. This week, they have the chance to make amends at home against Derby County. The visitors are, after all, one of the potential relegation candidates this season.

The Hawthorns – the fortress of WBA

Against their upcoming opponents, the “Baggies” will once again rely on home advantage at the “Hawthorns”. West Brom have failed to win two home games in a row across all competitions. This included the home debacle in the EFL Cup, where Ismael’s side were shot down 6-0 by the in-form Gunners from London and eliminated from the competition.

Nevertheless, WBA can be considered a strong team at home. At the start of the season, the PL relegated side picked up two home wins in their first two home games of the 2021/22 Championship, including a home victory over fellow relegated Sheffield United where the Baggies scored as many as four goals. Statistically, West Brom have the second strongest attack in the league anyway, with 13 goals in six games

Only QPR have scored more goals (16) than WBA so far. One of the crucial factors in West Brom’s attack has been Callum Robinson. The 26-year-old, meanwhile, leads the internal goalscoring charts with three goals. Against Millwall, Robinson was still on the bench for long stretches. It is quite possible that the goal scorer will be in the starting eleven this time. If West Brom vs. Derby win, odds of 1.57 for tip 1.

Predicted West Brom line-up:

Johnstone – Kipre, Bartley, Ajayi – Furlong, Livermore, Mowatt, Townsend – Robinson, Phillips, Grant

Last matches played by West Brom:

Derby – Statistics & current form

Wayne Rooney has silenced his critics so far, already picking up six points from the opening six matchdays of the 2021/22 Championship. Although Derby have not had the best start to the season, their current position in England’s second-tier is certainly a sense of achievement for the Rams.

After all, the club from the East Midlands is one of the potential relegation candidates this season. Last season, Rooney’s team narrowly avoided relegation to League One. In the final table, Derby were separated by just one point from Wycombe, who were relegated to League Three with 43 points.

Nevertheless, there were no major reinforcements for Rooney & Co in the summer. As in the previous season, Derby started with a manageable squad. The Rams’ start to the season was therefore all the more surprising. Last week, Rooney’s side suffered only their second defeat of the current league season.

Does Derby’s form crisis worsen?

Competitively, however, the “Rams” have recently failed to win four games in a row. Among other things, the black and whites were also eliminated from the EFL Cup during this period. It is quite possible that the next setback will follow during the week in the away game against the leaders from West Bromwich.

This assessment is reinforced by the Rams’ poor away record. The visitors have lost 11 of 13 away games since February 2021 season- and competition-wide. Three of their four away defeats have come this term, including the recent 2-0 loss at Birmingham.

As was the case last weekend, Rooney will be without Bielik and Knight during the week. In the absence of his two best midfielders, the Rams’ manager will have to start the rotation machine again. In addition, veteran Kazim-Richards is also missing up front.

Predicted line-up of Derby:

Roos – Byrne, Davies, Jagielka, Forsyth – Shinnie, Bird – Lawrence, Morrison, Knight – Baldock

Last matches played by Derby:

West Brom – Derby Direct Comparison / H2H Record

These two clubs are meeting for the 121st time. Derby currently lead the head-to-head comparison against West Brom with a record of 52-30-38. In the last five competitive matches between the two clubs, the ‘Rams’ have won three and drawn one. The Baggies, on the other hand, have only managed to win their most recent encounter against Derby County.

It was WBA’s first home win since February 2010 and the Championship leaders will be looking for another home win against Derby County. Betting fans who want to make a prediction on West Brom vs. Derby can pick up decent odds if they are successful.

West Brom – Derby Tip

While the home side from West Midlands are one of the hottest promotion candidates this season, the visitors from East Midlands are considered a potential relegation candidate. Last season, Derby County narrowly avoided relegation, and the Rams’ squad has not changed much since then.

It would therefore be more than surprising if Wayne Rooney’s team were to be involved in this year’s promotion race. Derby are likely to find themselves in the bottom third of the table as early as the first half of the season. After six matchdays, the Rams have only six points to their name anyway.

West Bromwich Albion have already beaten the likes of Sheffield United and Luton in their first two home games this season. In the process, WBA even netted a total of seven goals. Although the hosts only drew at home against Millwall last weekend, we rate WBA much stronger than the visitors from Derby at the “Hawthorns”.

We therefore expect a one-sided match, which will be dominated by the home side even before the break. For West Brom vs. Derby our betting odds are “HT/FT: 1/1” For this we choose a confident stake of seven units