Now finding themselves four points adrift in the bottom three of the Championship table, Queens Park Rangers will aim to end a run of four consecutive league defeats on Tuesday when they travel to the Hawthorns to take on West Bromwich Albion.
The visitors suffered a defeat away at Huddersfield Town on their return to action following the October international break, while their visitors climbed to ninth spot with a draw against Plymouth Argyle.
Match preview
© Reuters
Aiming to improve on last season's ninth-placed Championship finish, West Bromwich Albion have experienced a mixed start to the new season under Carlos Corberan's management, as they again occupy ninth spot at this stage with 17 points on the board from their first 12 matches.
They headed into the first international break of the season in early September with seven points from five matches before putting a five-match unbeaten run together on their return to action to climb the table, playing out draws with Bristol City, Watford and Millwall before thrashing then-league leaders Preston North End 4-0 away from home with Darnell Furlong, Alex Mowatt, Matt Phillips and Kyle Bartley all getting on the scoresheet.
The Baggies then hosted basement side Sheffield Wednesday and made it back-to-back three-point hauls with a 1-0 victory thanks to John Swift's early goal, but they had to go into the second international break of the term on the back of a disappointing defeat earlier in October, as they made the short trip to Birmingham City and suffered a 3-1 defeat despite going ahead through Swift inside five minutes.
Aiming to quickly bounce back from that result and improve their standing in the top half of the Championship, Corberan's men hosted newly-promoted Plymouth Argyle on their return to action on Saturday, and although they may have been disappointed to only come away with a point from a goalless draw, defeats for sides around did see the Baggies climb to ninth spot.
Now with just a two-point gap up to Sunderland in the top six but only leading the sides down to 13th place on goal difference at this early stage, West Bromwich Albion will look to get back to winning ways on home turf on Tuesday to strengthen their standing as the league continues to take shape.
© Reuters
They meet a Queens Park Rangers who are desperate to strengthen their own position at the other end of the division, as the visitors come into Tuesday's game with a four-point gap to safety after their opening 12 games.
After their 20th-placed finish last time around, just six points above the drop zone, the R's set out to again avoid relegation under Gareth Ainsworth's management this term, but they have endured a dismal start with just eight points on the board.
Of their two second-tier wins thus far, the most recent came at the beginning of September, and the London outfit have since added just two more points to their tally in seven attempts, culminating in four straight defeats heading into Tuesday's trip.
After losing to Coventry City, Leeds United and Blackburn Rovers before the break, with the latter being a 4-0 thrashing, the R's returned to action with a trip to fellow strugglers Huddersfield Town on Saturday, but they would again come away empty-handed, with Jake Clarke-Salter's 42nd-minute goal not enough to inspire a turnaround after Kian Harratt and Jack Rudoni had the hosts 2-0 up inside 15 minutes.
Such a result sees QPR now sitting four points adrift of safety after just 12 games, and with pressure building on Ainsworth and the squad, they will be desperate to end their wait for a third win of the campaign to avoid falling further behind in the fight for survival.
Team News
© Reuters
West Bromwich Albion continue to deal with a long list of injuries, particularly going forward with Daryl Dike, Josh Maja, Jeremy Sarmiento, Adam Reach and John Swift all sidelined.
Given those absences, we should again see a front three of Jed Wallace, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Grady Diangana in their 3-4-3 shape, while competition is rife for the two midfield spots with Jayson Molumby and Okay Yokuslu both fighting to come in from the outset after Nathaniel Chalobah and Alex Mowatt were preferred on Saturday.
Conor Townsend may come into the back three in Erik Pieters's place from the start on Tuesday, while Kyle Bartley and Cedric Kipre should both keep their spots despite competition from Semi Ajayi.
While Gareth Ainsworth may wish to make several changes to his QPR side to inspire a change in results, he has limited senior options, with defenders Morgan Fox and Steve Cook again sidelined by injuries, meaning Osman Kakay, Jake Clarke-Salter and Jimmy Dunne should again line up at the back.
Paul Smyth and new signing Reggie Cannon will both fight to start on the right-hand side of their 3-4-1-2 setup after Albert Adomah was preferred last time out, with Andre Dozzell again expected to operate at the tip of the midfield ahead of the pairing of Sam Field and Jack Colback.
At the top end of the pitch, Lyndon Dykes was not involved at the weekend, and with Chris Willock struggling for regular minutes under Ainsworth, we should again see danger man Ilias Chair joining Sinclair Armstrong in a strike pairing.
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Palmer; Kipre, Bartley, Townsend; Furlong, Mowatt, Yokuslu, Phillips; Wallace, Thomas-Asante, Diangana
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Begovic; Kakay, Dunne, Clarke-Salter; Cannon, Field, Colback, Paal; Dozzell; Armstrong, Chair
We say: West Bromwich Albion 2-0 Queens Park Rangers
While West Bromwich Albion are yet to establish a run of real consistency or regular scoring this season, they should fancy themselves to return to winning ways on Tuesday at home to a QPR side who are devoid of any confidence or momentum after a dismal start under Ainsworth, and we see the Baggies having too much quality for their visitors who have struggled at both ends of the pitch this term.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
