West Bromwich Albion vs Leicester City 13/09/20

13 September 2020

West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City go head-to-head at The Hawthorns in their opening Premier League game. A goal-friendly encounter is on the cards, given six of their last seven top-flight H2Hs have seen both teams score, with five producing over 2.5 goals.

WBA regained a top-flight status after a two-year absence, having finished second in the Championship last season. Despite winning just 43.48% of their home league fixtures in 2019/20 (10/23), the hosts often tried to do it in style. Indeed, eight of those ten triumphs arrived via at least a two-goal margin. However, it will be a daunting prospect for the ‘Baggies’ to win here, given they’ve lost all four of their Premier League home clashes against Leicester. Curiously, three of those meetings have seen over 4.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet, which was the case in only 11 (47.83%) of their 23 Championship home fixtures the last term.

As for the visitors, they long seemed to be on a course of securing Champions League football last season before tumbling down the blocks following the resumption of football in June. A return of two wins from nine Premier League matches post restart proved insufficient for the ‘Foxes’ to secure a top-four finish (W2, D3, L4). One of Leicester’s main problems in 2019/20 was a lack of consistency on the road that saw them register only 40.32% of their total league points away from home (25/62). Notably, though, Brendan Rodgers’ men won all nine of their Premier League trips in which they were leading at the half-time break back last season.