West Brom will not be an easy test for Southampton in order to earn a relaxing break.
Saints and manager Russell Martin have gone seven games unbeaten in the Championship in the last five weeks.
The manager was nominated for manager of the month in October, and the club came within nine points of automatic promotion.
Saints have the opportunity to enter the final international break of 2023 with practically total pleasure when they host West Bromwich Albion.
The team has gone a long way since their woeful self-destruction and toothlessness in four consecutive league defeats.
Martin’s team, on the other hand, has already failed at the final hurdles before both international breaks this season, leaving some questions hanging.
After going four games unbeaten to begin the season, Staplewood was rocked by a 5-0 defeat against Sunderland the day after the summer transfer market closed.
It took them till the end of the month to recover, kicking off a comeback run with a 3-1 win over Leeds United.
Victories over Stoke City and Rotherham United should have put any worries to rest before the October international break, but Millers goalkeeper Viktor Johansson had other plans.
With two weeks left to stew on it, not beating second bottom lent credence to critics – Martin has addressed it at least ten times since.
Saints have claimed 10 of the 12 available points subsequently, scoring goals in the 93rd, 95th, and 96th minutes to demonstrate their spirit and grit.
Carlos Corberan, Marcelo Bielsa’s former assistant and the guy who led Huddersfield to a playoff final, leads West Brom to the end of this block of games.
They will be staunch opponents. They have risen gradually but steadily to sixth in the Championship table, one point behind Saints in fourth.
keeping a league-high seven clean sheets, with only league leaders Leicester City conceding fewer goals.
West Brom are disciplined, never lose shape, and are content to let teams throw the ball around in benign areas while scoring at the same rate as Saints (25 in 15).
Corberan’s team performs better at the Hawthorns than on the road, where they have won only two games this season.
Those victories, a 4-0 thrashing at Preston North End and a comfortable 2-0 victory at Coventry City, have occurred in their previous three visits.
West Brom have not surrendered the opening goal in any of their last eight league games, while Saints have scored first in all eight.
The visitors’ unlocking will be the litmus test. In his last ten home Championship games, Saints leading scorer Adam Armstrong has been involved in 15 goals (12 goals and three assists).
That might also be James Bree, who was taken from the Den after 71 minutes due to a slight injury, or Kamaldeen Sulemana, who has been out for a month with an injury.
Whatever team Martin fields, a positive outcome – ideally, a sixth win in eight – would be appreciated to keep the good sentiments going.
“It would be lovely for momentum and to keep putting pressure on the teams above us,” Martin told the Daily Echo, “but I’m sure West Brom will be feeling the same way.”
