West Brom debrief: Mean defence, impressive debut and true grit
Unbeaten Albion maintained their fine start to the Championship season with Saturday’s 1-0 win over Plymouth.
Josh Maja’s second-half winner ensured Carlos Corberan’s troops returned to the top of the Championship after Sunderland had briefly pinched top spot.
We take a look at some of the clash’s talking points in the debrief.
Impenetrable hosts
It’s been more than 10 years since Albion opened up at The Hawthorns with three clean sheets – going back to the impressive Premier League effort of 2012/13 against Liverpool, Everton and Reading, all wins.
Albion have been defensively sound at home for the most part of Corberan’s reign, but this sequence is worth charting.
Alex Palmer has not been too busy so far this season. There have been times opponents have looked sharp, all have had spells against the Baggies so far, but on Saturday the keeper came up trumps with a couple of saves to extend his record of the most clean sheets from an English goalkeeper in the top four tiers in the last two years.
The backline in front of him have enjoyed a fantastic start.
Sixteen points from a possible 18 is Albion’s best start to a season since the promotion campaign of 1992/93.
