West Bromwich Albion are now without a win from their last three games in the Championship.
Ryan Mason’s Baggies did look to be very close to an elusive win in the challenging second tier against Leicester City last time out; however, after Samuel Iling-Junior’s first goal for the promotion chasers had handed them a 1-0 advantage over Marti Cifuentes’ Foxes.
Yet, it wasn’t to be for Mason’s unlucky hosts come the full-time whistle, as various spurned chances came back to bite them courtesy of a Nathaniel Phillips’ own goal.
The former Tottenham Hotspur coach turned Baggies manager could now be prepared to change up what attackers take to the field for his side’s encounter later today versus Norwich City to ensure goal-shy displays don’t become frequent, with Isaac Price potentially facing the chop.
Price's showing vs Leicester in numbers
While the Northern Ireland international has received plenty of plaudits for his performances this season so far, he has also gone slightly off the boil over West Brom’s choppy last few Championship clashes.
Indeed, the former Everton youth product went through the entirety of September without picking up a single goal or assist, which is a notable drop-off when weighed up next to his outrageous form in August.
Games played
4
3
Goals scored
3
0
Assists
1
0
Price is unfortunately a victim of his own success here, with his three goals and one assist in August hard to keep up across a full season, as has been seen in his lacklustre offering the following month.
Mason’s experiment to throw Price in as a second striker alongside Aune Heggebo also didn’t work against Leicester, with the 22-year-old going to miss a big chance, even when handed the responsibility of leading the line.
On top of that, he didn’t link up with the Norwegian well enough to get him regularly involved in play, with the number 19 only managing a weak eight touches of the ball in total next to his new strike partner.
It could be that Mason is now preparing to drop Price from the first team altogether for the trip to Norfolk, with this Baggies goal machine primed for his first league start of the season ahead of the hot-and-cold number 21.
Mason's "special" Price replacement for West Brom
Away from Price sticking out with his three league strikes last month, West Brom haven’t been the easiest on the eye to watch so far this season.
Since putting three past Phil Parkinson’s Wrexham, the Baggies have only managed to find the back of the net a weak four times across their next five league encounters, with Josh Maja now potentially thrown into the mix to make West Brom a troubling threat in attack once more.
Mason is likely just erring on the side of caution with his injury-prone number 9 so far this season, hence his lack of starts to date, with his goal-laden campaign last season devastatingly derailed by an injury in January.
Still, he could be the spark now needed to enhance West Brom’s firepower in attacking areas, with this well-taken finish last campaign coming against Wednesday’s opponents, Norwich City, coincidentally going down as his ninth goal in total.
By the time he was sadly stricken with injury, he would boast a mightily impressive 12 strikes from 25 league clashes.
Games played
25
Goals scored
12
Scoring frequency
Every 173 mins
Assists
2
Big chances created
6
It’s not just his explosive goalscoring form that will catch Mason’s eye here, however, with the former Sunderland centre-forward also amassing six big chances created across this span of league games.
This could result in Maja supplying Heggebo with chances galore moving forward, with the Brann menace’s goalscoring prowess – firing home a lethal 11 goals in the Eliteserien in 2024 alone – hopefully then coming to the forefront.
Hailed as “special” by Carlos Corberan when the Spaniard was still occupying the Hawthorns dug-out, it does feel like a waste not to try and get the best out of Maja again, with Norwich perhaps on the receiving end of the 26-year-old’s clinical edge later on, as Mason attempts to get West Brom’s faltering season back on track with tweaks here and there.