The 2021/22 EFL Championship season gets underway this weekend with an exciting clash between Bournemouth and West Bromwich Albion at the Vitality Stadium.
With fans coming back in attendance, Bournemouth will hope to maintain a tradition of kick-starting their Championship campaigns on the front foot, having won their last three competition curtain-raisers. Although they go up against another genuine promotion contenders, the ‘Cheeries’ will be looking to mimic last season’s start that saw them go undefeated in their opening seven home fixtures (W5, D2). After a turbulent warm-up campaign that saw them lose two out of three off-season matches (W1), Bournemouth went on to dismantle MK Dons 5-1 in the EFL Cup over last weekend. Getting off the mark first could be of the essence when considered only two of Bournemouth’s 27 competitive home games last term saw the team that broke the deadlock go on to lose. Despite appointing ex-Fulham boss Scott Parker as their new chief of staff, the Boscombe outfit have had a shy transfer window so far, which could affect their hopes of returning to the Premier League following last season’s play-offs fiasco.
On the other hand, the visitors suffered relegation from the Premier League last season on the back of four consecutive losses to sign off for the 2020/21 campaign. Yet, WBA are not strangers to going up and down through England’s top-two divisions, having alternated between the Premier League and the Championship over the past four seasons. Hopeful of securing a swift return to the top-flight, the ‘Baggies,’ now led by Valerin Ismael, will be desperate to halt a four-game winless streak at the Vitality Stadium (D1, L3). Even though it was the Premier League, WBA have conceded an average of 2.75 goals across their last four league matches away from home, something they need to address in the new campaign.
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