This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
The Championship offers up some midweek action on Tuesday night as West Brom head to Elland Road to face Leeds United.
Slaven Bilic’s men will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to a tenth straight game by avoiding defeat in west Yorkshire, but this game is probably their toughest test of the season as, before the weekend’s results, the Whites were tied with Swansea City at the top of the league.
The Baggies beat Queens Park Rangers in Saturday’s early kick-off thanks to maiden goals from Nathan Ferguson and Matheus Pereira which saw them take sole possession of first place.
Later that afternoon, Leeds were stunned by Charlton Athletic at The Valley as Macauley Bonne scored the game’s only goal, even if he didn’t know much about it as Kiko Casilla parried a cross in off the striker’s back.
Despite the defeat, Marcelo Bielsa’s men have the best defensive record in the Championship as they have conceded just five goals all season – a stark contrast to Albion, who have kept only one clean sheet.
On the Chalkboard
One key to Leeds’ sturdy defence this season has been Brighton loanee Ben White, who has been one of their best players so far.
Averaging a WhoScored rating of 7.39, only narrowly the second-best in the squad, the 21-year-old has also won 3.1 aerial duels per game on average.
Watch West Bromwich Albion Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
In addition to that, the centre-back has recorded 2.6 tackles per game – the most of any defender in Bielsa’s team, 3.6 interceptions and 3.7 clearances per match, which both top the charts again.
West Brom have hardly been short of goals this campaign having scored 17 so far which is only matched by Preston North End, but they do have one man who is yet to add to that column himself.
Charlie Austin joined the Baggies for £4m in the summer, boasting an impressive record in this very division – scoring 68 goals in 137 appearances, per Transfermarkt.
Though the 30-year-old hasn’t gotten off the mark just yet, despite registering 3.2 shots per game, and he’ll need to improve to stand a chance against the Leeds defence.
He’s won just 0.8 aerial duels per game on average – although that kind of football isn’t in Bilic’s repertoire as they rank second in the league for passing success at 82.6%, it still has to be considered.
Austin is also dispossessed 1.2 times per match which will undoubtedly have White eager for this matchup on Tuesday night.
