City v West Brom – The Opposition

Manchester City welcome West Brom to Manchester, eager to put the disappointment of Saturday’s dull draw at Old Trafford behind them. Victory for City will take them up to sixth in the league and face a newly promoted side looking for only their second win of the season.

Form

The Baggies have not had a great start to life back in the Premier League, and recorded their only win of the season so far against fellow strugglers Sheffield United at the end of Novembe. Since then, they have lost 5-1 at home to Crystal Palace and 2-1 at Newcastle.

They have lost all but one of their away games this season, scoring just four goals and conceding 13 from six games. Their only point on the road came courtesy of a 1-1 draw at Brighton in October.

At this stage of the season in 2017, when West Brom were last in the Premier League, the Baggies had fared a little better, winning two and drawing eight of their opening 17 matches, and had claimed 6 points away from home with 1 win and 3 draws.

Danger Men

Hal Robson-Kanu is the main threat for West Brom, having scored three goals from seven shots in seven matches. Callum Robinson is also on three goals, but has played six more gams than Robson-Kanu, while Conor Gallagher is on two.

The title of king of assists belongs to Matheus Pereira, who has two to his name and one goal. He has made 322 passes so far and has a pass accuracy of 78%, having completed 251 passes so far. Darnell Furlong has attempted the most passes with 336, but has only completed 217, giving him a pass ratio of 65%.

Who’s The Boss

Slaven Bilic is the current manager at The Hawthorns, and City fans may remember him when he guided his West Ham side to a 2-1 victory at Etihad Stadium in September 2015, which put the Hammers into second place in the Premier League, three points behind the blues.

Played For Both

Gareth Barry has played for both City and West Brom. He spent five years at City before moving to The Black Country in 2017 via a three year stay at Everton. Tosin Adarabioyo also spent time at West Brom on loan from City. Peter Barnes started his career at City in 1974 and moved to The Hawthorns in 1979 for a club record of £748,000.