West Bromwich Albion seem to have the same problems as last season and that could crush their hopes of promotion back to the Premier League.
Slaven Bilic has had a decent start to life as West Brom boss, having lost none of his opening six games in the Championship. The Baggies are just one of three teams yet to lose a game so far but there is a recurring problem from last season.
West Brom kept just 10 clean sheets in 48 games last season and that played a massive part in them missing out on promotion back to the Premier League. An unbeaten start might have diverted some attention off the problem but zero clean sheets in six games is a serious problem even when it’s this early in the season.
They conceded 62 goals in the Championship last season, joint-worst among the top 10 teams with Swansea boasting the same record. Goals were never a problem last season thanks to Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez as only Norwich scored more goals than the Baggies.
However, with both Gayle and Rodriguez gone, the importance of a better defensive record will increase massively despite how good Bilic’s sides are on the attack. Kenneth Zohore and Grady Diangana have scored two goals each so far but they will have a lot of pressure to deliver throughout the season.
Losing one of their best defenders from last season in Craig Dawson is also a massive blow but summer signing Semi Ajayi has looked decent next to Kyle Bartley so far. The duo have started every league game together but there is room for improvement as they hunt for their first clean sheet of the season.
Bilic has to address the issue of cleans sheets seriously before the games start to come thick and fast in the league. The international break has come at the perfect time for him and his side to regroup and work on the issue. If they fail to solve it, they might miss out on promotion again at the end of the campaign.
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