West Bromwich Albion will welcome Everton to The Hawthorns on Saturday looking to continue their winning start to the new Premier League season.

The Baggies opened their campaign with a 1-0 away victory over Crystal Palace, while Everton were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur.

West Brom

© Getty Images

West Bromwich Albion will go into this weekend's match against Everton in the unusual position of having three points under their belts after matchday one.

The Baggies' victory over Crystal Palace, which came courtesy of a Salomon Rondon header, marked their first opening-day win since beating Liverpool 3-0 in 2012.

In addition to getting one over on one of his former clubs, the winning start will have been even more pleasing for manager Tony Pulis considering how they finished the previous campaign.

West Brom's last Premier League victory before the Palace triumph came at the start of March, with the Baggies ending the 2015-16 season on a nine-game winless streak that saw them pick up just four points.

Relegation was never really on the cards, though, and the club's fans have a lot more reason to be optimistic this term after Pulis promised a "busy" end to the transfer window for his side, arguing that they need to improve in every area of the field.

The club's new Chinese owners could give West Brom the spending power to make another step up, but so far their summer business has been limited to bringing Matt Phillips in from Queens Park Rangers.

The main Baggies-related transfer headlines have once again surrounded wantaway striker Saido Berahino, with the club refusing to budge on their asking price and Pulis even hinting that the reported Stoke City target could still stay at The Hawthorns.

This will be West Brom's first match in front of their own fans this season, and having ended the previous campaign with three defeats and a draw at The Hawthorns they will be desperate to get off to a winning start and avoid their worst home league run since 2014.

Only three teams had a worse home record than the Baggies last season, though, with eight defeats from their 19 games and only 20 goals scored - the joint-third lowest tally in the league behind only Palace and Aston Villa.

Recent form: W

Everton

© Getty Images

As far as opening-day fixtures go, Everton couldn't have wished for many tougher than welcoming Tottenham Hotspur to Goodison Park, but their season actually got off to the best possible start when Ross Barkley scored after just five minutes.

That got the Ronald Koeman era up and running, and even though Erik Lamela ensured that the points were shared courtesy of a second-half equaliser, it was a promising start to life under the new manager.

Everton fans had grown disillusioned under Roberto Martinez after he led them to a bottom-half finish last season, but despite losing John Stones to Manchester City during the summer, more is expected of the Toffees under Koeman following his impressive work at Southampton.

The Dutchman has been busy in the transfer market, with Idrissa Gueye, Ashley Williams and Yannick Bolasie all arriving at the club this month to take Everton's spending up to around £50m - a figure immediately recouped from their sale of Stones.

It is on the pitch where the improvement needs to come, though, particularly at home after Everton amassed fewer points in front of their own fans than they did on the road last season.

Indeed, only the top three lost fewer away games than the Toffees last term, although four of their five defeats did come in a six-game winless run on the road at the end of the campaign. Should they fail to beat West Brom this weekend then it will be their longest winless away run since August 2013.

Everton's biggest problems last season came at the back, with only the bottom five conceding more goals, but if reports are to be believed then they could strengthen further in that area of the field before the end of the current transfer window, with Manchester City outcast Joe Hart and Sunderland's Lamine Kone linked with moves.

Neither will be at the club in time for this weekend's match, but there could be debuts for Williams and Bolasie as Koeman continues to mould the side into his own.

Recent form: D

Team News

© AFP

Romelu Lukaku missed the opening game of the season with a heel injury, but the Belgian international, who now appears set to stay at Everton this summer, should return this weekend.

The striker scored a club-record 17 Premier League goals while on loan at West Brom in 2012-13, but is without a goal or an assist in his last nine league appearances for Everton stretching back to March 19.

Lukaku's return could see either Kevin Mirallas or Gerard Deulofeu drop out of the team, while Koeman must also find space for new £25m signing Bolasie, who was part of the Palace side beaten by West Brom on the opening day.

Koeman has also confirmed that Williams may feature, although the Wales international is likely to start on the bench for now following his Euro 2016 exploits.

Everton are definitely without Matthew Pennington, Tyias Browning, Callum Connolly, Seamus Coleman and Muhamed Besic, though, which could see Koeman once again opt for a 3-4-3 formation.

West Brom, meanwhile, have no new injury concerns to worry about, with Chris Brunt still their only absentee with an ACL problem.

Pulis may name an unchanged XI, then, which would see Berahino once again partner Rondon up front.

West Brom possible starting lineup:
Foster; Dawson, McAuley, Olsson, Evans; Phillips, Fletcher, Yacob, Gardner; Rondon, Berahino

Everton possible starting lineup:
Stekelenburg; Holgate, Jagielka, Funes Mori; McCarthy, Gueye, Barkley, Baines; Deulofeu, Lukaku, Bolasie

Head To Head

Everton have lost just one of their last seven meetings with West Brom, although that defeat did come in their most recent clash as Rondon scored the only goal of the game at Goodison Park in February.

The Toffees have won their last two and are unbeaten in their last three visits to The Hawthorns since a 2-0 defeat in September 2012.

Everton's most recent visit to the stadium saw them come from two goals down in the second half as a Lukaku brace helped them to a thrilling 3-2 victory.

We say: West Brom 0-1 Everton

This one is likely to be a closely-fought contest between two managers who are good defensively, and as such we may not see many goals. However, the expected return of Lukaku could prove crucial for the Toffees, who we are backing to pick up their first win of the season.

Previews by email