Burnley-West Brom Preview
West Bromwich Albion head coach Alan Irvine says he may have difficulty picking his side for Sunday's home match against Burnley after watching the Baggies secure back-to-back victories within the space of three days.
West Brom (1-2-2) claimed their first Premier League win of the season after beating Tottenham 1-0 at White Hart Lane last Sunday, with James Morrison heading the only goal of the game. Albion followed up Tuesday with a thrilling 3-2 League Cup win over Hull City at The Hawthorns.
The Tigers held a 2-1 lead with just over three minutes remaining before Gareth McAuley and Saido Berahino hit late goals to seal an unlikely victory and a fourth-round trip to Championship side Bournemouth.
Irvine fielded a totally different starting lineup against Hull to the one that won at Spurs, and with impressive individual performances in both matches, Irvine admitted he faces a selection dilemma.
"It was fantastic to build on a really good result at Tottenham and really important that the players who played on Wednesday gave me things to think about," Irvine told his club's official website. "They certainly did that.
"To a man they can be really pleased with their performances and they have given me some selection issues to think about but they're the right selection issues because I'm looking at a whole load of players who have played well. It's also great for the mood of the camp because everybody has now played in a winning performance and hopefully we can now build on that on Sunday in what is a really important game."
West Brom enter the weekend round of fixtures in 16th place with five points from five matches, while visitors Burnley (0-2-3) are second from bottom with only three to their credit.
Newly promoted Burnley lost their opening two matches of the campaign before playing out three straight goalless goals. The Clarets have not scored in 436 minutes of league action, with Scott Arfield's 14th-minute strike in the 3-1 home defeat against Chelsea in the opening game of the season their lone tally.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche was pleased with his side's display in their most recent 0-0 draw against Sunderland at Turf Moor on Saturday.
"Sometimes I have to talk around performances, but today I thought we were terrific." Dyche told his club's official website. "The balance of the side was even better today. Defensively the framework of the side was good and we created enough chances to win the game.
"It didn't happen, but I thought overall we deserved more than we got and if we keep playing like that I am absolutely convinced that wins are around the corner."
Wigan Athletic were the last EPL team to have two or fewer goals through their first six league matches back in 2010-11.
Albion will check on the fitness of record signing Brown Ideye, who limped off against Hull, while Victor Anichebe (hernia) and midfielder Chris Baird (illness) are also doubtful. Burnley's David Jones faces a late test on a calf injury, while Danny Ings, Matt Taylor and Sam Vokes remain sidelined.
West Brom and Burnley have never met in a Premier League match, although as founding members of the Football League, they have been playing each other since 1888. Overall, there have been 124 matches between the clubs, with 52 West Brom wins, 45 Burnley wins and 27 draws.
Burnley's last victory at The Hawthorns came in December 1969, when they beat the Baggies 1-0 in a Division One game. Since then, the Clarets have lost seven of their eight league visits.
