Following their opening-day draw, West Bromwich Albion will seek a first success of the Championship season when they host Luton Town on Saturday.
While Valerien Ismael's side were held by Bournemouth last week, the Hatters travel to The Hawthorns having followed a fine league win with a humbling EFL Cup exit in midweek.
Match preview
© Reuters
Relegated back to the second tier in May, a new regime has been charged with reviving an ailing club which had lost its identity in recent months, as West Brom attempt to gain immediate promotion back to the promised land.
Former Barnsley boss Valerien Ismael saw his new side twice come from behind on the opening night of their Championship campaign, as the Baggies salvaged a point against Bournemouth last Friday. A high-tempo encounter required a pair of equalisers - first from Irish defender Dara O'Shea and then his international colleague Callum Robinson - to take something from the South Coast clash.
West Brom have apparently already settled into Ismael's trademark relentless style of play - as their centre-backs squeezed up onto the half-way line and wing-backs effectively operated as outright wingers.
Of course, the former Bayern Munich defender's success at Oakwell and previous club LASK also depended on his forwards pressing aggressively, which suggests that Luton's defence will have little time to settle on the ball this weekend.
Having beaten the Hatters both home and away last time they were at this level - and won each of their last four meetings in all - Albion are certainly favourites heading into this latest encounter, but their opponents have improved markedly in recent times.
© Reuters
After finishing 12th in the Championship table last season, Luton now have credible ambitions of pushing on this term, and started out on the right road by picking up maximum points against freshly promoted opponents.
Having overseen a largely positive pre-season - as his squad prepared for last Saturday's opener with four comfortable wins; finding the net 20 times in five warm-up games - manager Nathan Jones led the Hatters to a 3-0 home victory against Peterborough.
Summer signing Fred Onyedinma bagged a goal and two assists in their Championship curtain-raiser, in which they demonstrated the intensity and athletic prowess Jones demands from his squad.
Watching his son's Posh side from the Kenilworth Road stands, Sir Alex Ferguson could not fail to have been impressed with Luton's display, but that intense high was quickly followed by the bitter low of a EFL Cup exit just days later.
With the scores level at 2-2 after 90 minutes on Tuesday - after the Hatters had twice fought back from behind - Harry Cornick and Carlos Mendes Gomes were both denied from the spot before Dion Pereira fired his kick over, as a much-changed team went out to Stevenage on penalties.
While that setback may have taken the shine off their impressive start to the league campaign, Jones is sure to restore his first-choice XI on Saturday, as they take on one of the toughest tests in the division.
- D
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- D
- L
- W
- L
Team News
© Reuters
West Brom manager Valerien Ismael will expect to have new signing Adam Reach available after he missed out on the trip to Bournemouth to work on his fitness, while Alex Mowatt - who followed his boss from Barnsley - should continue in midfield after making his debut last week.
Goalkeeper Sam Johnstone could yet start despite ongoing speculation over his future, but David Button is the man currently in possession of the gloves.
Definitely on his way out of the club is want-away winger Matheus Pereira, who has agreed to sign for Saudi club Al Hilal for an undisclosed fee, bringing to an end a two-year association with the Midlands club.
Meanwhile, on-loan defender Matt Clarke was ruled out on the morning of the Bournemouth game - with Cedric Kipre then given his league debut a year after joining from Wigan; leaving Semi Ajayi on the bench - but could potentially start this time out.
Luton's Nathan Jones made 10 changes to his league lineup for their cup defeat in midweek, so is set to reverse that by bringing back the players who made such a strong start to the season.
Former Motherwell midfielder Allan Campbell made a good first impression against Peterborough and is poised to keep his place, as Jones - who has no serious injuries or illnesses to deal with - decides whether to retain fellow summer signing Cameron Jerome up front following his cup goal on Tuesday.
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Button; O'Shea, Bartley, Clarke; Furlong, Mowatt, Livermore, Townsend; Robinson, Grant, Diangana
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Sluga; Bree, Naismith, Osho, Bell; Campbell, Lansbury, Ruddock; Onyedinma, Jerome, Cornick
We say: West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Luton Town
Goals could be on the cards at the Hawthorns, as Luton have had a prolific pre-season and netted three on the opening day, while West Brom are now led by a notoriously attack-minded manager and have a number of weapons at their disposal - if not one star striker to finish everything off.
For that reason, the scoreline may remain close - but expect Albion to dictate the play and come out on top for a fifth straight time against the Hatters.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Luton Town win with a probability of 50.29%. A draw had a probability of 26% and a win for West Bromwich Albion had a probability of 23.66%.
The most likely scoreline for a Luton Town win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.03%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.8%) and 1-2 (9.23%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.27%), while for a West Bromwich Albion win it was 1-0 (8.17%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 1.4% likelihood.
