West Brom's Rotherham advantage laid bare as supercomputer makes prediction

West Bromwich Albion's season will officially kick off with a Carabao Cup match against Rotherham.

The Baggies will take on the League Two side on 8 August with a kick-off time of 5.30pm in the UK.

James Morrison will be hoping to start things as he means to go on, and while the Millers are two leagues below, complacency should be not rear its head.

Nonetheless, confidence and complacency are two separate entities, and the Hawthorn side have plenty of reasons to be confident.

From historical showdowns to the recent meetings, Morrison could be heading in with an edge already.

And the Opta supercomputer has also had its hand at predicting the outcome of this cup tie.

What has the Opta supercomputer predicted for Rotherham vs West Brom

West Brom enter the game against Rotherham as the heavy favourites, but with it being a Championship side versus a League Two outfit, that is not much of a surprise.

According to the Opta supercomputer, Morrison's squad have a 57.9 per cent chance of winning.

Meanwhile, Rotherham are listed at just 20.7 per cent and and a draw slightly more likely at 21.4 per cent.

After 90 minutes, if the game does end in a draw, there will be no extra time, with the game going straight to penalties.

So, Morrison's West Brom team selection will have to be spot on to avoid that lottery.

How have West Brom recently fared against Rotherham?

Games against Rotherham come infrequently for West Brom, with the two sides constantly changing leagues over the years.

Over the last seven games, the Baggies have the bragging rights though.

In that seven match run, West Brom have won six of those ties, with Rotherham picking up one win too.

And that also includes the last time they met in the EFL Cup as well. In August 2009, West Brom ran out as winners in a seven-goal thriller that ended 4-3.

What about West Brom's record all-time vs Rotherham?

If you strech the record all the way back to the first meeting, a further air of confidence emerges for the Baggies.

In 17 meetings, the B71 outfit have won 11 of those, handing themselves a 64 per cent win rate against the Millers.

In that time, since the first game back in January 1954, Rotherham have only mustered up three wins.

So, all in all, it does seem that West Brom are not only the present day favourites, but the historical one too.

Hopefully, Saturday's game will turn out to be an extension of these records and not an early cup upset.