View: West Brom should be wary after Birmingham City loan update ahead of derby clash
On paper, you would expect West Brom to waltz past Birmingham City when the two sides meet at The Hawthorns on June 20th.
The Baggies are 14 places and 23 points ahead of their local rivals, and picked up all three points with a pulsating 3-2 victory over the Blues back in December too.
But of course, these are hardly normal circumstances to be contesting a match under.
Quite aside from the usual volatility that a derby clash can throw up, there is also the fact that it will be played behind closed doors off the back of a break in action that has gone on for three months.
With that in mind, Albion will have to be careful in this one, and that’s a fact that will only be hammered home further by the news that City will have loanee Scott Hogan available for the clash.
According to the Birmingham Mail, the club have agreed a deal with Aston Villa to keep him on the books until the end of the Championship season, with his initial deal being thrown into disarray by the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
Hogan has been an unmitigated success since arriving at St. Andrew’s in January, hitting seven goals in nine games at a rate of one every 112 minutes.
As a point of reference, West Brom’s top scorer this season, Hal Robson-Kanu, has one strike every 200 minutes.
Of course, even with Hogan in the side, you would still expect Albion to win this one quite comfortably.
But ring rust can do strange things to a side, and given how lethal the 28-year-old was in the weeks leading up to lockdown, the Baggies would be well-advised to keep an extra close eye on him next weekend.
In other West Brom news, View: West Brom veteran could follow Brunt’s lead and thrive for another year with Ch’ship move.