Last season, this fixture was a battle in the Premier League, now both West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City meet in the Champion looking to kick-start their respective campaigns.

Both sides have had indifferent starts to the new season, the Baggies fairing slightly better than Gary Rowett’s team.

Darren Moore’s side currently sit 11th in the league table, six places and two points above Stoke City.

Here, FLW provides you with a stat pack ahead of this weekend’s game at The Hawthorns.

West Brom look set to field an unchanged side to the one that was narrowly defeated to Middlesbrough last weekend after resting several of their first-choice players in the League Cup win over Mansfield Town

Moore has no injury concerns and looks set to play a 3-4-1-2 formation against Rowett’s side.

Stoke, meanwhile, could be without Tom Ince, with Bojan Krkic the most probably to deputise for the injured winger.

Rowett has Ashley Williams back available following his suspension, but the Everton loanee is unlikely to slot straight back into the starting XI.

Benik Afobe could be recalled to the starting line-up after starting on the bench int he win over Hull City in the league last weekend.

In the previous six meetings, West Brom have won three to Stoke’s one and with Jay Rodriguez set to start after being rested in the cup, the Baggies top scorer will be looking to his tally of four Championship goals so far. 

Stoke will be looking to make it two wins on the bounce after recording their first three points last weekend, while West Brom look to respond to last week’s defeat.

The Baggies edge the stats in arms of shots per game, averaging 1.7 per fixture, compared to their counterpart’s 0.7.

With Peter Crouch in their ranks, Stoke’s aerial duel success is slightly superior (57 per cent) to West Brom's’ 55 per cent.

In terms of dribbles per game (0.7) and tackers per game (1.3), it is a dead heat between the two teams.

It is sure to be an exciting game at the Hawthorns weekend and all the stats point towards a close encounter between to two Championship sides expected to be towards the top of the table come May.