Sports Mole previews Saturday’s friendly clash between West Bromwich Albion and Bolton Wanderers, including predictions and team news.
Championship outfit West Bromwich Albion square off against League One side Bolton Wanderers in a friendly fixture at St George’s Park on Saturday afternoon.
This friendly fixture represents the first of pre-season for both clubs ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
Match preview
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West Brom are preparing for life as a second-tier club for the fourth consecutive season after finishing fifth in the Championship in 2023-24 and losing in the playoff semi-finals to Southampton.
Head coach Carlos Corberan warned after their playoff defeat that “there is a lot that we need do during this summer” to ensure the Baggies are primed to battle for promotion next season.
American businessman Shilen Patel completed his takeover as new majority shareholder in February, but West Brom must work under a tight budget this summer, abiding the new EFL rules which govern how much clubs are allowed to spend. The Baggies recorded an £11m loss for 2022-23 and are expected to face even bigger financial losses over the next 12 months or so, despite Patel’s takeover.
West Brom are currently in the thick of pre-season training and are gearing up for their first friendly against Bolton, whom they have had mixed success against – winning, drawing and losing two of their last six competitive meetings.
The Baggies will then face Peterborough United, Blackpool, Mallorca, Cambridge United and Birmingham City in friendly fixtures before travelling to Queens Park Rangers for their opening Championship match of the new season on August 10.
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Like West Brom, Bolton suffered playoff heartache and missed out on promotion last season, meaning they must prepare for a fourth straight campaign in League One.
The Trotters finished third in the table after picking up 87 points, winning 25 of their 46 matches, but they were beaten 2-0 by Oxford United in the playoff final at Wembley Stadium, with manager Ian Evatt labelling his side’s performance that day as their ‘worst of the season’.
Evatt, who has managed close to 230 games as Bolton boss since taking charge in July 2020, has since commended his players after a week-long warm weather training camp in Portugal, stating that they have ‘made good progress’ and are in ‘really good shape’ both physically and mentally ahead of the new season.
Before facing Leyton Orient in their opening League One game of the new season on August 10, Bolton will attempt to put together a strong run of form across six pre-season friendlies, with Saturday’s clash against West Brom to be followed by encounters with Middlesbrough, Chorley, Fiorentina, Stoke City and Port Vale.
Team News
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With this being the first pre-season friendly for both teams, it is unclear how strong either manager will go for Saturday’s contest.
Senior figures including Matt Phillips, Adam Reach, Nathaniel Chalobah, Yann M’Vila and Erik Pieters have all left West Brom, while Joe Wildsmith, Ousmane Diakite and Torbjorn Heggem have all joined the club and could feature in some capacity on Saturday.
As for Bolton, veteran striker Cameron Jerome is one of three players who has departed upon the expiration of his contract along with Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Declan John.
Centre-back Chris Forino has arrived from Wycombe Wanderers, while midfielder Klaidi Lolos and goalkeeper Luke Southwood have joined the club from Crawley Town and Cheltenham Town respectively.
We say: West Bromwich Albion 2-0 Bolton Wanderers
Both teams are seeking to build up their match fitness and will be keen to make a positive start to pre-season, but should West Brom name a relatively strong team on Saturday, they should have the quality to come out on top against their third-tier counterparts.
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