West Brom was briefly in the Championship. Just two years later the blackbirds, led by Slaven Bilic, returned to the Premier League. Unlike Fulham, who spent almost no money, West Brom decided to strengthen their team with transfers. Grady Diangana was bought from West Ham for € 13.5 million, Sporting left winger Matheus Perreira was acquired for € 9.1 million. WBA paid Wigan for center-back Cedric Cyprus € 9.1 million and exactly the same amount of “blackbirds” laid out for the reserve goalkeeper of “Brighton” David Button. Lured Slaven Bilic and Sheffield left winger Callum Robinson. The amount of compensation was not disclosed. All players are available for this WBA match. However, the participation of Conor Townsend and Kenneth Zohore is questionable. In preparation for the new season, the WBA played only one match. The Blackbirds parted ways with Brighton (0:0).
Toffees played a far from unstable game last season. The team failed in the first half of the championship and only in the second part did manage to improve it, which eventually resulted in 12-th place at the finish. Everton has improved its performance and quality of play in many ways thanks to the addition of Carlo Ancelloti to his coaching bridge. From the moment he appeared on the bridge of the club. Before the pandemic only Liverpool scored more points than “toffee”. There was a period when it was possible to wedge in the distribution of seats in the Europa League, but after the quarantine, Everton slowed down a little. In the last nine matches it got three defeats, three wins and three draws. Furthermore, they lost to the future rival Tottenham (0:1). Anchelloti has serious tasks set for this championship. The team must become the “seventh” force and challenge the best clubs in the Premier League. The management was active in the offseason on the transfer market. In total, about 60 million pounds were spent. The main acquisitions were Allan and James Rodriguez, with whom Ancelotti is familiar from his work at Napoli and Real Madrid, as well as Abdoulaye Ducourt from Watford. It is possible that their mentor will release already in this match. As for losses, Mason Holgate, Jean-Philippe Gbamen, Fabian Delph, Jenk Tosun will definitely not play due to injuries.
