Match Preview: West Bromwich Albion v Brighton
Here we go again. 10 days after Brighton and West Brom faced off in what turned out to be the most boring game in the history of association football, the two Albion’s will try for a second time to see who progresses to an FA Cup Fifth Round meeting with Derby County.
Rather excitingly, this clash at the Hawthorns is to be broadcast live on BBC One. It will be the first time that the Seagulls have been shown live on Auntie’s flagship channel since the FA Cup Final Replay of 1983. Fingers crossed it goes slightly better than that 4-0 defeat to Manchester United 36 years ago.
That run to Wembley represents the one and only time that Brighton have made it beyond the quarter finals of the world’s greatest cup competition. And there probably won’t be a better chance to do so again than this season. Liverpool are out, Tottenham Hotspur are out, Arsenal are out and one of Manchester United or Chelsea will be out after the next round.
There is every possibility that an unfashionable team is going to go far this season. Why not Brighton? If we can navigate our way past the Baggies, Wembley will suddenly seem a lot closer. That might be easier said than done, though.
Who are West Bromwich Albion?
One of the 12 founder members of the Football League, West Bromwich Albion are one-time champions of England and five-time FA Cup winners. They’ve spent most of their existence bouncing between the top and the second tier with a brief spell in the third tier during the early 1990s. The club is best known for it’s blue and white striped kits and it’s god awful gold and green striped away number. The Baggie’s Hawthorns home is often featured in pub quizzes as the answer to the question “Which football ground in England sits at the highest point above sea level?”
What are they like now?
West Brom are currently plying their trade in the Championship after relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season. It was a dismal 2017-18 campaign in which they lurched from Tony Pulis to Alan Pardew with Pardew managing just one league win during his time at the helm – no prizes for guessing who that was against. Following Pardew’s sacking, they broke away from their model of hiring managerial firefighters and gave the job to Darren Moore, who has been hugely impressive in launching a convincing bid for an immediate return to the top flight. The Baggies are currently in the hunt for a play off place and as we saw from Moore’s team selection for the 0-0 draw at the Amex when he named four academy players in his starting XI, the FA Cup is a distraction from that task that Moore clearly feels his side can do without. Which makes it even more ridiculous that we weren’t able to beat them first time around.
Which players should we be worried about?
Presuming that Moore goes for a similarly weakened line up as to the first meeting, then Wes Hoolahan is the biggest name player. Dwight Gayle was on the bench that day at the Amex and we know only too well from his time at Newcastle United what a pain in the arse he can be if he is involved at any stage.
What’s the Albion’s record against West Bromwich Albion like?
When you look at the overall head-to-head between Brighton and West Brom, it doesn’t make for great reading. In 23 meetings, the Albion have won just five times with eight draws and 10 defeats. At the Hawthorns it is even worse with a solitary Seagulls success from 11 previous meetings and no goals scored in seven of those. For those who are looking for a straw or two to clutch, that one victory came on the one previous occasion we’ve been to the Baggies for a cup game, Peter Ward scoring twice as third tier Brighton shocked top tier West Brom 2-0 in the League Cup of 1976.
What’s the best WeAreBrighton.com memory of West Bromwich Albion away?
Discovering last season that the away concourse sold brandy. Under normal circumstances, we’d have to ask who on Earth wants to have a glass of brandy on a concourse of a football ground, but the absolute horror show that the Albion put on in being outclassed by the worst team in the Premier League meant it was a very welcome addition to the day’s drinking list.
What’s the worst WeAreBrighton.com memory of West Bromwich Albion?
Everything else from last January’s visit that didn’t involve drinking brandy in the stadium.
Who’s played for both sides?
We’ve done quite well out of signing former West Brom defenders with questionable mental attributes so far this decade. Gonzalo Jara was so mad he got arrested for driving when he was meant to be serving a ban which caused him to miss the Albion’s home game against Burnley in 2011. Joe Mattock was so mad he decided that shaving his testicles on the day of a game was a good idea but only succeeded in injuring himself doing so. And Liam Ridgewell was so mad that he decided it would be a good idea to take a photo of himself wiping his arse with £20 notes.
Other than football, what is West Bromwich famous for?
Cholera. West Bromwich suffered terribly in the Cholera epidemic of 1831 as it’s position on a hill coupled with vast urbanisation meant that the drainage of contaminated water was inadequate. Watch yourselves those travelling.
Where’s the betting value for West Bromwich Albion v Brighton?
If it follows the pattern of the last game, then under 1.5 goals at 9/4 looks good. Given that the Albion have failed to score on nearly 70% of their previous visits to the Hawthorns, both teams to score no at 21/20 also holds plenty of appeal.
Prediction
With Chris Hughton having confirmed that the likes of Bernardo, Yves Bissouma and Alireza Jahanbakhsh are all going to start, the Albion should have too much quality for West Brom reserves. But we thought that in the first meeting too and now we’ve surrendered home advantage, a cupset could well be on the cards. 1-0 to the Baggies with much bed wetting to follow in the aftermath.
