Slaven Bilić’s Baggies could make it five Sky Bet Championship wins from five when they travel to play Preston on Monday night (ko 7.45pm).
Preston
Their last outing
On Wednesday night, Preston fell to a 4-0 defeat against Hull City.
Jarrod Bowen opened the scoring on the half-hour mark, with Josh Magennis and Kamil Grosicki netting second-half goals before Bowen bagged his second with less than quarter of an hour to play.
Two consecutive Sky Bet Championship defeats means Preston are now fifth in the table.
Preston: Rudd; Ledson (Harrop 58), Bauer, Storey, Rafferty; Pearson, Gallagher; Bodin (Nugent 67), Johnson, Maguire (Potts 81); Barkhuizen.
Substitutes: Bayliss, Stockley, Huntington, Hudson.
In the dugout
In his first managerial role, Alex Neil guided Hamilton Academical to the top flight of Scottish football, and then after a good start to the season, moved to Norwich City.
The Canaries managed 17 wins from 25 games and gained promotion via the play-offs, although they were relegated after a single season in the Premier League.
With Norwich eighth in the Championship, Alex Neil departed Carrow Road in March 2017 and joined Preston in July 2017.
In his first season at Deepdale, Preston finished 7th, before ending up in 14th-place last term.
One to watch
Preston’s attacking midfielder Daniel Johnson was a schoolboy with Crystal Palace before progressing through Aston Villa’s Academy.
Despite never playing a game for Villa, he had loan spells with Yeovil Town, Chesterfield and Oldham Athletic, before arriving at Deepdale in 2015.
Since then, Johnson has played more than 180 matches for Preston and has bagged eight goals for the Lilywhites so far this season.
Our last meeting
Our most recent clash with Preston was at The Hawthorns in April.
Dwight Gayle scored a hat-trick and Jay Rodriguez netted in a 4-1 win for the Baggies, while Callum Robinson fired in a late consolation for the visitors.
Stats
Albion
• Bilić’s team have won four consecutive games for the first time since 2012, and will bid to make it five victories in a row with a win against Preston.
• The Baggies are the top scorers in the Championship with 35 goals - and have the best goal difference in the league (+16).
• Hal Robson-Kanu has netted five goals in seven games for Albion.
Preston
• The Lilywhites are the second-highest scorers in the league behind the Baggies, having bagged 31 goals so far during this campaign.
• Alex Neil's side will be looking to bounce back after losing consecutive games for the first time this season, against Derby County and Hull City.
• Preston have the best home form in the league (P9, W7, D2, L0).
Head to head
|
|
Albion wins |
Draws |
Preston wins |
|
League |
39 |
24 |
37 |
|
FA Cup |
6 |
0 |
2 |
|
League Cup |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
Total |
47 |
26 |
39 |
Our man to watch
Matheus Pereira curled in a pearler of a free-kick against Bristol City on Wednesday night, as Albion’s Brazilian magician continues to wow the Hawthorns faithful.
Pereira has now scored four Sky Bet Championship goals, with just one of them coming from inside the box.
Best of social
Here is said free-kick. Enjoy.
No manners. Just ridiculous. 🤩
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) November 27, 2019
pic.twitter.com/14p2UOHiUc
Man in the middle
The referee for Monday’s fixture will be Oliver Langford, and he’ll be assisted by Akil Howson and Adam Crysell - with Darren Bond acting as the fourth official.
Langford has already officiated one Albion game this season, overseeing the Baggies' 1-0 win away at Middlesbrough.
Ticket news
Tickets are on general sale and can be purchased online, in person from the East Stand Ticket Office or by calling 0121 227 2227.
The Baggies have been handed an allocation of 2,365 for the game.
Prices:
|
Adults |
£24 |
|
Seniors |
£16 |
|
Under-24s |
£15 |
|
Under-18s |
£8 |
|
Under-11s |
£2 |
Please note, under-11s must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
Supporters can avoid booking fees and queue times by printing their e-tickets at home or saving them to their mobile phone.
All e-ticket purchases are exempt from online booking fees which will save supporters £1.25 on every ticket bought in this way.
Follow the game
Comprehensive coverage of the clash with Preston is available in our Match Centre, where you can listen to live commentary on WBA Radio or follow our live text feed.
WBA Radio is the only service that allows Baggies fans around the world - from Smethwick to the Sahara - access to uninterrupted live commentaries from every one of our competitive games. iFollow subscribers can join Gez Mulholland and Drew Williams for Baggies-biased live commentary on Monday.
International supporters who have an iFollow subscription may be able to live stream the game depending on where they are located around the world. To find out, click here.
You’ll also be able to find score updates on the club's social media channels.
