At A Glance
Aston Villa head to The Hawthorns on Sunday for the first time since an epic Championship Play-Off Semi-Final penalty shoot-out that set the club on their way back to the Premier League in 2019.
The Baggies have now joined Villa in the top flight after earning automatic promotion last season, but they find themselves towards the wrong end of the table after their first 13 games this term.
Slaven Bilić paid the price for picking up just seven points during that time, and he was replaced by Sam Allardyce earlier this week.
Despite a 1-1 draw against Manchester City last time out, Bilić parted ways with his side 19th in the standings.
Villa have enjoyed success on their travels this season, winning four of five away matches in the league – most recently a 1-0 success against neighbours Wolves.
A 0-0 draw last time out against Burnley put Villa in 11th place heading into this game.
Standout Stats
Aston Villa have lost two of their last four Premier League meetings with West Brom (W1 D1), as many as they had in their first 16 against them in the competition (W6 D8). This is the first top-flight meeting between the sides since a goalless draw in January 2016.
In the Premier League, West Brom have lost their final league match before Christmas in each of their last four campaigns between 2014/15 and 2017/18.
Aston Villa have won their final league match before Christmas in just one of their last nine seasons (D3 L5) and haven’t done so in the top-flight since beating West Brom in December 2010.
Aston Villa have won away from home against one newly-promoted team this season, beating Fulham 3-0. They haven’t won two away games against newly-promoted teams in a Premier League season since 2008/09, when one of those wins was against West Brom (also vs Hull).
Aston Villa have won four of their five away games in the Premier League this season (L1), as many as they had in their previous 42 on the road in the competition (W4 D8 L30). Indeed, the Villans already have more away points this season (12) than they managed in the whole of last term (11).
West Brom are the only side yet to score a headed goal in the Premier League this season, while almost a quarter of their goals conceded so far have been headers (6/26 – 23%).
Sam Allardyce has taken charge of more different clubs in the Premier League than any other manager, with West Brom his eighth different managerial role in the competition. Allardyce has only lost his first Premier League game in charge of a team on one occasion (W5 D1 L1), losing with Sunderland in October 2015 (0-1 v West Brom).
The Last Meeting
Tensions were high when these two sides met in the Championship Play-Off Semi-Final second leg, with Villa having already secured a 2-1 win at Villa Park.
Craig Dawson scored after 29 minutes to level the tie for West Brom, who saw Chris Brunt dismissed 10 minutes from the end of normal time.
After a goalless extra-time period, Jed Steer saved the first two Albion penalties before Tammy Abraham stepped up and sent Villa to Wembley, where they triumphed over Derby County.
Team News
Ross Barkley will be assessed again ahead of Sunday’s game as he continues his recovery from injury.
Douglas Luiz and Matty Cash return from suspension to boost Dean Smith’s options.
Sam Allardyce will be without Matheus Pereira, who serves the final game of his three-match suspension.
Conor Townsend, Kyle Bartley, Sam Field and Hal Robson-Kanu are all likely to miss out through injury.
The Boss
“First and foremost, I’m disappointed for Slaven Bilić, who did a fantastic job getting West Bromwich Albion promoted, it’s unfortunate for him but, somebody goes out, somebody comes in, and it’s Big Sam. And if you've managed over 500 games in the Premier League, you're doing something very well.”
Dean Smith
