West Brom v Leeds United EFL Championship Tips: Back 4/5 Both Teams to Score | OneFootball

EFL Championship

Ryan Deeney previews West Brom v Leeds in the Championship

West Bromwich Albion host Leeds United in an early season big-game clash at The Hawthorns and Ryan Deeney is backing both teams to score.

West Bromwich Albion vs Leeds United

West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United clash in one of three early afternoon Championship kick-offs this Saturday and both find themselves in peculiar positions.

Carlos Corberan and Daniel Farke have seen four of their most used eight players from last season depart this summer thanks to issues with financial regulations.

Saturday's hosts at least started positively, seeing off Queens Park Rangers 3-1 on the road but a threadbare squad was exposed as the side were beaten 2-1 at League Two Fleetwood Town in the EFL Cup.

Leeds are also out of the cup as a largely second string outfit were beaten 3-0 by fellow promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough while a 3-3 draw with Portsmouth showed both the strengths and weaknesses of their operation at present.

Action at both ends

Leeds' season may have gotten off to a poor start but their defensive woes are at least matched by a strong attacking threat, racking up an impressive 3.46xG, with the help of a penalty, from 22 efforts on goal.

Daniel James, Willy Gnonto and Joel Piroe all played key roles in goals on opening day having racked up 46 goal contributions from a combined 74 90's last season while the returning Brenden Aaronson also scored against Portsmouth.

West Brom racked up 2.04xG in their game at Queens Park Rangers, responding well to an early goal conceded. They scored in 19 of 23 home matches last season and with almost half of their attacks coming down the right-hand side, where they will come up against anti-defender Junior Firpo, they will create again here.

But they aren't the finished article yet, their central defence and midfield not the most mobile, which will be music to the ears of a vibrant, pacey Leeds attack looking to play through a coordinated but high press.

Baggies May Have A Maja Threat

Backing the guy that has just scored a hat-trick isn't usually a logical move. Especially one that scored once from 198 minutes of football all of last season. However, there are reasons to back Josh Maja to go again.

For starters, the 25-year-old has had a full pre-season and his sharpness showed on opening day. For a striker that finished his last two full seasons outside of the top flight of his league with 15 and 16 goals, it's a positive start.

Leeds have defensive issues, as evidenced by the six goals conceded in their opening two matches. Furthermore, they conceded five shots against Portsmouth, three of those being taken and finished by their front two, while Josh Coburn and Delano Burgzorg managed four apiece for Middlesbrough in midweek.

It led to a look at Karlan Grant and Josh Maja, both of whom will likely be on the end of moves with West Brom starting so many attacks from the right. Grant is 21/10 to score anytime while Maja is 3/1, so we're backing the latter here.

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Back Both Teams to Score @ 4/5 Back Josh Maja to score anytime @ 3/1