West Brom have double-edged goals reveal that will frustrate – here’s why
League One football is looming large on the horizon for West Brom.
James Morrison has a huge task on his hands to guide West Brom away from third tier football, in a season that promised so much, but has delivered so little.
Ryan Mason’s appointment was an exciting one, but the first-time head coach couldn’t find instant success at The Hawthorns.
Meanwhile, Eric Ramsay’s short-lived reign will doom him to a page or two in the annals of Baggies history, leaving it up to Morrison to see out the remainder of the campaign.
Relegation from the Championship would be unthinkable in B71, but unless results and performances turn soon, this looks sure to be the fate that will befall Albion.
West Brom have encouraging-yet frustrating goals reveal
Scoring goals has been a major issue for West Brom this season, with just 34 scored in 35 Championship games.
Aune Heggebo’s eight ensures he leads the way in the scoring chart currently, and Morrison will know that if his team are to stay up this season, they’ll have to start finding the net more regularly.
Indeed, the Baggies haven’t scored more than a single goal in any game of football since 16 January, where even then they were defeated 3-2 by Middlesbrough.
However, although scoring goals has been a key issue, when they have, Albion have proven that they can utilise multiple avenues to finding the net.
As detailed by Sofascore, Baggies players have scored a collective 10 goals with both the left and right foot this term, whilst also netting 13 times through headers.
This equal spread of different types of goals is encouraging, and should be something Morrison looks to lean into heading into the final weeks of the campaign.
However, the frustration comes from the fact that whilst they are scoring different kinds of goals, the volume has simply not been good enough.
Had it been, these numbers suggest that Albion could’ve been a really potent attacking unit this season.
West Brom’s attacking numbers paint clear goals picture
So, with a good spread of goals across both feet and in the air for West Brom this season, why hasn’t there been more of them?
When looking behind the obvious regarding a lack of quality and service, further underlying numbers show just how poor Albion have been in the final third this season.
As per Sofascore, the Baggies have created an average of 1.9 big chances per game this term, but have missed an average of 1.4 of them per game too.
Of their 13.4 shots per match average, only 3.9 are on target, with 5.3 being off target and the other 4.3 being blocked respectively.
Albion’s crossing accuracy sits at 22.1 per cent on the season, whilst they’ve also not scored any penalties yet this term, and have found the net from just one of their 11 shot attempts from free-kicks.
With these levels of wastefulness, it’s not hard to see why West Brom are scrapping for their lives at the foot of the Championship.
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