The Hawthorns

Saturday 2nd December 2023 -  12:30
West Brom
- Days
- Hrs
- Mins
- Secs
1
v
2
Leicester
Stream on WBA TV
Key Events

Albion and Leicester City badges with an image of Cedric Kipre pointing at the camera in the home shirt smiling

West Bromwich Albion host title-chasing Leicester City at The Hawthorns in their first fixture of December on Saturday lunchtime (ko 12.30pm). 

The Baggies will be hoping to complete a perfect week by picking up their third victory following triumphs over Ipswich Town and Cardiff City. 

Sky Bet Championship leaders Leicester City were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom side Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Wednesday night, with the Owls grabbing an equaliser in second-half injury time. 

That was the third game in four where the Foxes have been unable to pick up a victory, however, Saturday's visitors still boast the highest number of triumphs in the second tier - 14 from 18 matches. 

This weekend's showdown at the Shrine will be the first Championship meeting between the two clubs since April 2010. 

The hosts have been in fine form at The Hawthorns

Follow the fixture live

Supporters can listen to live audio commentary of Albion's fixture with the Foxes.

Gez Mulholland and former Baggie Andy Johnson will provide live commentary from The Hawthorns, with coverage starting at 12.20pm.

Audio passes are available to purchase here.

Details for video streaming on WBA TV will be available here from Thursday afternoon onwards.

Supporters are kindly asked to direct any questions or complaints about WBA TV or WBA Radio to wbatvsupport@streamamg.com.

The club are unable to answer queries about WBA TV or WBA Radio sent to fans@wbafc.co.uk or myalbion@wbafc.co.uk.

Regular updates will also be posted across the club's social media channels throughout the morning and afternoon.

wbatv_logos_2023-135.jpg

The opponents

Despite only picking up one win from their last four league games, you'd be hard pushed to find anyone disagreeing with the fact Leicester City's start to the 2023/24 season has been sensational. 

The Foxes sit on 43 points after 18 fixtures, the second-best beginning to a Championship campaign - bettered only by Sheffield United's tally of 44 in 2005/06.

The leaders will have been really disappointed to have dropped two points in the final moments at relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday in midweek, but they'll still head to The Hawthorns sitting top of the tree as the festive month kicks off. 

They have a very, very familiar face in charge. Italian Enzo Maresca (43), who played for Albion between 1998 and 2000 before sealing a spectacular move to European giants Juventus for a fee reported to be around £5m, is the man tasked with delivering the title and an instant return to the Premier League. 

The 2015/16 Premier League and 2021 Emirates FA Cup winners are eight points clear of Leeds in third and will believe they're in a strong position to achieve their obvious targets. 

Enzo Maresca returns to B71 on Saturday with his Leicester City side

One to remember

Albion secured a convincing 3-0 victory over the Foxes at the Shrine in April 2010.

James Morrison got the ball rolling before Robert Koren's brace helped bag the Baggies all three Championship points.

Supporters can watch the highlights below.

The last five

Leicester City 3-0 Albion

April 22 2021, Premier League

.

Albion 0-3 Leicester City 

September 13 2020, Premier League

.

Albion 1-4 Leicester City

March 10 2018, Premier League

.

Leicester City 1-1 Albion

October 16 2017, Premier League

.

Albion 0-1 Leicester City

April 29 2017, Premier League

Nacer Chadli scored an outstanding free-kick against Leicester back in 2017

Did you know?

Saturday's meeting will see the two teams in the Sky Bet Championship with the best defensive records go head-to-head at The Hawthorns. 

Albion have the second-best tally, conceding just 17 goals in 18 matches, while visitors Leicester boast the tightest back line, shipping only 11.

Carlos Corberán's men have kept nine clean sheets in their last 13 league games, letting in just eight goals in those 13 matches. 

The Foxes have a total of seven shutouts in the second tier so far this season. 

Alex Palmer has kept 20 clean sheets in 45 senior appearances for the Albion

Ticket details 

Tickets are on general sale for Albion's Championship clash with Leicester City.

Seats are priced £28 adults, £23 seniors, £17 for supporters aged 20-25, £12 for supporters aged 17-19 and just £5 under-17s.

An adult disabled supporter ticket is priced £18 and includes free access for a personal assistant.

Tickets can be purchased online, in-person from the East Stand Ticket Office or by calling 0121 227 2227.

When buying online, supporters will need to be logged into their My Albion account linked to their ticketing ID. Click here for instructions.

Please note, Baggies fans purchasing online and opting for an e-ticket will not pay any additional fees, while supporters who opt to purchase match tickets in-person or choose to collect from the club’s ticket office will be charged a £1.75 transaction fee.

WBA and Leicester City badges on the ticket graphic

Fan Zone

The Fan Zone will be closed on Saturday owing to the early kick-off.

Additional information

Transport for West Midlands have provided the following details for supporters attending Saturday's match.

What is happening?

· If you are travelling from the direction of Dudley, there is a road closure to demolish a bridge on a section of A4123 Birmingham New Road between Tipton Road and Burnt Tree  

· Roadworks remain between Bromford Road and Johnson Street on Kelvin Way  

· Members of  ASLEF, the train drivers union, have called an overtime ban    

What does this mean?  

· Helpful diversions will be in place and more information can be found here  

· Two-way traffic lights will be operating under manual control on Kelvin Way from 11:00 until 15:00 to help keep you moving 

· Some train journeys are subject to alteration. For more information please go to  West Midlands Railway 

What should you do?

- If travelling by the A4123, to reduce impact in the area, please consider using public transport and avoid this section of road.  

- Please check entire journey information before you travel  

- Could you park and ride for part of your journey? There are a number of Park and Ride sites across the region including West Midlands Metro. The list is available here 

- Please plan ahead and leave more time for your journey. To plan your journey by public transport please go to www.tfwm.org.uk

An image of Josh Maja scoring against Leicester

Albion suffered late heartbreak to lose 2-1 against league leaders Leicester City at The Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon.

During a frantic final 15 minutes, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall put the Foxes in front before Josh Maja thought he had earned Carlos Corberán’s men a draw towards the end.

However, the visitors stole it in stoppage time - Harry Winks coverting a clinical counter-attack to hand them all three Sky Bet Championship points.

The boss made three changes to his starting XI following the midweek win in Cardiff, as Semi Ajayi, Matt Phillips and Brandon Thomas-Asante replaced Kyle Bartley, John Swift and Jed Wallace.

Leicester were stronger in the early stages, James Justin curling over before Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had a goal disallowed for offside.

But the Baggies grew into it and struck the post midway through the half via Cedric Kipre’s volley. Thomas-Asante also saw an effort saved and Phillips smashed a one over in a particularly good spell.

City did trouble the woodwork themselves, Darnell Furlong diverting Stephy Mavididi’s effort to Alex Palmer’s near stick, and also went close through Kelechi Iheanacho’s low drive - which went mere inches wide.

Despite those chances, the match was level come the interval with neither side able to break the deadlock during an interesting opening 45 minutes.

Albion created a couple of opportunities straight after half-time, however Grady Diangana’s shot was diverted over and Kipre curled into Hermansen’s arms from range.

Leicester were the team to strike first, though. Wilfred Ndidi’s cross found Dewsbury-Hall, and the attacking midfielder nodded home to hand them a 75th minute lead.

The Baggies thought they had stolen a well-deserved point with 60 seconds of normal time remaining, Maja poking in to score his first goal since joining the club.

They went searching for a winner yet, unfortunately, got caught on the break in the 94th minute - Leicester pouring forward and Dewsbury-Hall assisting Winks to tap home, condemning Albion to a rare Hawthorns defeat.

Albion: Palmer; Furlong, Ajayi, Kipre, Townsend; Yokuslu (Chalobah 86), Mowatt (Molumby 75); Diangana (Maja 75), Phillips (Swift 45), Sarmiento (Fellows 75); Thomas-Asante.

Substitutes: Griffiths, Taylor, Pieters, Pipa.

Attendance: 24,382 (2,009).