This Week's Opposition: West Bromwich Albion

Key names and stats powering the Blues' next Championship challenge provided by Express FM's Kirsty Roxanne.

4 games into their Championship return, the Blues suffered their first league defeat to top of the table Sunderland last time out.

Attention now turns to the next challenge for John Mousinho’s side, who currently sit 18th and will be hoping to pick up their first win this weekend.

A couple of weeks away due to the international break and Pompey are back at PO4 to take on West Bromwich Albion.

MANAGER

Spanish football coach Carlos Corberàn is at the helm.

After retiring from playing as a goalkeeper, Corberán started working at Villarreal’s C and B-teams as a fitness coach.

His first senior managerial experience came in the Cypriot First Division. Corberán also managed the likes of the Leeds United Under-23s as well as the 1st teams of Leeds, Huddersfield Town and Olympiacos.

In October 2022, Corberán returned to the English setup after being appointed as head coach of West Brom on a 2-and-a-half-year deal. He joined a team that sat 23rd in the table after 16 games. His debut game 4 days later was a 2-0 loss to Sheffield United. After this, Corberán went on to win 10 of the next 12 league games.

In his past 2 seasons with the club, the 41-year-old has finished 9th and 5th which has prompted a contract extension, now keeping him at the club until 2027.

ONE TO WATCH

Albion’s Tom Fellows is our one to watch on this occasion.

Having joined West Brom at Under-10s level, he made his league debut for the club in December 2021, coming on as a substitute in a 1-0 win against Reading.

Fellows scored his first career goal in a 4-1 home win against Aldershot in an FA Cup 3rd Round tie. 6 days later, he scored his 1st league goal in a 4-1 home win over Blackburn Rovers.

Upon his return to The Baggies after a season-long loan to League Two outfit Crawley Town, he played 38 games as a 1st-team regular in all competitions. Last season, Fellows scored 5 goals and provided 4 assists.

This campaign, the 21-year-old already has 3 assists to his name.

Fellows plays as either a forward, attacking midfielder or winger for the club and wears the number 31 shirt.

TOP SCORER

Striker Josh Maja is the current top goalscorer for The Baggies.

Maja played youth football with Crystal Palace, Fulham and Manchester City. He began his professional career with Sunderland, where he scored 18 goals from 49 appearances.

In January 2019, he joined Bordeaux of France’s Ligue 1. Whilst at the club, Maja had loan spells at Fulham and Stoke City in 2021 and 2022, making Premier League appearances for both clubs.

In the 2022/23 Ligue 2 season, Maja played all 38 games and scored 16 goals, finishing 4th amongst the top scorers. Bordeaux finished in 3rd that season, missing out on promotion by 1 place and 3 points. He then turned down the option to renew his contract. His goal tally included a hat-trick in a 3-1 away win against Paris FC.

Maja signed for West Brom on a 3-year deal in August 2023 - 11 days later he made his debut in a 3-2 home win over Swansea City.

With fitness and injury issues, he missed 2 months from September to November, scoring his 1st goal for the club upon his return on December 2nd. Maja was then injured in the first half of his return to West Brom, suffering ankle ligament breaks and being sidelined for 4 to 5 months.

He scored the 1st hat-trick of the 2024/25 Championship season in a 3-1 victory over QPR on the opening day.

Maja has 4 league goals this season and wears the number 9 shirt.

CURRENT FORM

The Albion currently sit 5th in the Championship table after the weekend’s action and following an accumulation of 10 points from their first 4 games, thanks to 3 wins and a draw. Their most recent game ended in a 1-0 victory over Swansea City at The Hawthorns.

Carlos Corberàn’s side began the weekend in 2nd and will go top of the table with a win at Fratton Park.

Last campaign, they finished in 5th, however missed out on the Play-Off Final when they lost 3-1 on aggregate in the Semis.

The last time these teams met was over 15 years ago when both squads were in the Premier League. Both fixtures in the 2008/09 season ended in stalemates with Blues goals from Peter Crouch, Younés Kaboul and Niko Kranjčar.

Can Pompey secure their first win of the season?

Tune in for all of the unmissable action when Pompey Live returns on Express FM with full coverage of Portsmouth vs West Bromwich Albion from 2pm on Sunday the 15th of September. Jake Smith, Kirsty Roxanne and James Wilson will be providing pre-match build-up, half-time analysis and post-game reaction LIVE from Fratton Park.

Kick-off: 3pm!