EPL: West Brom targets first win against Middlesbrough

West Brom vs. Middlesbrough
Venue: The Hawthorns
Kick off: 1:30pm

West Bromwich Albion play host to Middlesbrough at The Hawthorns on Sunday (today) looking to avoid a second successive defeat in the West Midlands after they let slip a one-goal advantage against Everton.
Newly-promoted Middlesbrough are yet to lose on their return to the top flight but last Wednesday’s defeat to Fulham in the EFL Cup would have given Aitor Karanka reason to be concerned ahead of their third away fixture in a week.
In June, the Premier League fixture computer was remarkably kind to West Brom with their hardest game, on paper, being a home fixture with West Ham United so when they started the season with a narrow win over Crystal Palace, they would have been optimistic of building on that triumph during the rest of August.
Everything was going according to plan when Gareth McAuley gave them an early lead against Everton but they were denied back-to-back victories as the Merseyside outfit hit back to control much of the final 45 minutes.
That defeat – combined with the EFL Cup exit at Northampton Town – has once again resulted in the storm clouds starting to hover over The Hawthorns, and the showdown with Middlesbrough and the closing stages of the transfer window mark an extremely significant period for boss Tony Pulis.
Just like West Brom, Middlesbrough were handed a favourable start to the season on their return to the top flight and so far, they have capitalised on their good fortune to move themselves into the top half of the table.
Karanka would have been slightly disappointed with the 1-1 draw with Stoke City but the 2-1 success away at Sunderland has only increased expectations at the Riverside Stadium.
The Tees-Wear derby was the early examination that Boro needed to show their credentials and they came through it with flying colours thanks to two excellent goals from Cristhian Stuani, the second of which was set up by Alvaro Negredo who has been superb on his second stint in English football.

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup: Foster, Dawson, McAuley, Olsson, Evans, Gardner, Yacob, Fletcher, Phillips, Berahino, Rondon.
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup: Guzan, Nsue, Barragan, Ayala, Gibson, Clayton, Forshaw, Stuani, Ramirez, Downing, Negredo.