Leeds Utd v West Bromwich Albion Match Thread
Friday 18th August@20:00hrs | Elland Road
Carlos Corberan returns to Elland Road for the first time in three years, with a West Brom side intent on building momentum, after edging past Swansea City last weekend. Up until then, the Baggies hadn't had the best starts. They lost on the opening day of the season at Ewood Park, and were then dumped out of the League Cup by Stoke City.
That's nothing compared to their 22/23 campaign, where they found themselves second to bottom after 16 games, at which point Corberan took the reigns. They won ten out of their next 12 games and looked destined for the play offs. In February, he turned down the chance of succeeding Jesse Marsch at Elland Road, deciding he was better off at the Hawthorns, signing a new contract in the process.
They missed out on the play offs by three points, after which he suddenly became interested in the role vacated by Sam Allardyce. The board opted for Daniel Farke over the young Spaniard. Did they make the right choice? Only time will tell!
Leo Hjelde suffered a concussion in training and will join Liam Cooper, Patrick Bamford, Crysencio Summerville, Stuart Dallas, Junior Firpo and Mateo Joseph on the sidelines. Sam Greenwood is back in training, but having missed the entire pre-season, is short of match fitness. Luis Sinisterra and Wilfred Gnonto refuse to play.
The last time these two sides met at Elland Road, was towards the back end of the 2019-20 season, a game which Leeds won 3-1. They could do with a similar scoreline on Friday night!