The Championship is an unforgiving and incredibly competitive division and whilst some teams make it look easy, there’s always a plethora of teams who find themselves eyeing up promotion, even if there are just three teams who make it to the Premier League each season.
On Boxing Day 2018, the Championship table was one that had Leeds top of the league and Aston Villa in 9th. However, when the season ended the Villans were celebrating promotion whilst the Whites faced another season in the second tier, showing just how unpredictable it can be (BBC).
This season, though, Slaven Bilic is proving to be a tactician of the highest order, as his West Brom wide are smashing life in the second tier. The Baggies recorded yet another win on Sunday, smashing Swansea 5-1 at The Hawthorns, with goals from five different players.
The five-star display from West Brom took their goal tally for the season to 41 in the league, eight more than any other side, and the free-scoring Baggies are now a massive ten points clear of 3rd place Fulham, meaning they’ve got a real cushion between themselves and the play-off places.
Being hard to beat is one of the key things when chasing promotion, and the fact that 20 games have gone by and they’ve only tasted defeat once is a truly impressive statistic. It’s a mightily good thing, though, and with Bilic and co looking untouchable at times, the Swansea win was a statement.
The last time that the Swans shipped five goals in a league game came in their final season on the Premier League, as Manchester City put five past the Swans at The Etihad in April 2018. Now, though, the feat has been repeated by the Baggies.
Do West Brom have the best squad in the Championship?
Yes
No
Any other side who are set to travel to The Hawthorns have got a right to be worried. Matheus Pereira, Grady Diangana, Matt Phillips and the rest of the superb Baggies have been tearing teams to pieces, which can only bode well for the promotion hopes of the expectant fans.