Albion’s Premier League Season Comparison – 2 games

Published on: Author: Jon Want

Back-to-back wins at the start of a Premier League season for the first time put the Baggies in second place in the table on Saturday evening, their highest ever position in the Premier League, although Huddersfield’s win on Sunday pushed Albion down to third.

It is the first time that the Baggies have won their opening two league fixtures since 1997 when Ray Harford’s team beat Tranmere Rovers 2-1 at the Hawthorns on the opening day thanks to goals from Kevin Kilbane and Andy Hunt, and followed that up with a 3-2 win at Gresty Road with an Andy Hunt penalty and two late goals from Lee Hughes seeing off Crewe Alexandra.

The last time Albion won the first two games of a top flight season was in 1978 when a 2-1 home win over Ipswich Town was followed up by a 1-0 win at QPR.

The Baggies’ match winner joined a select group of players to have scored and then be sent off after coming on as a substitute in the Premier League. Hal Robson-Kanu joins David Lee (for Chelsea against Sheffield Wednesday, 1993), Bobby Zamora (for West Ham United against Fulham in 2007) and Ivan Klasnić (for Bolton Wanderers against Stoke City, 2010) as the only players to have achieved the feat in the Premier League.

Home Away Season End
Pld W D L F A Pts Posn* W D L F A Pts W D L F A Pts Posn Pts
2002/2003 2 0 0 2 1 4 0 18th 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 19th 26
2004/2005 2 0 2 0 2 2 2 12th 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 17th 34
2005/2006 2 1 1 0 2 1 4 6th 1 0 0 2 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 19th 30
2008/2009 2 0 0 2 1 3 0 19th 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 20th 32
2010/2011 2 1 0 1 1 6 3 11th 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 6 0 11th 47
2011/2012 2 0 0 2 2 4 0 19th 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 10th 47
2012/2013 2 1 1 0 4 1 4 4th 1 0 0 3 0 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 8th 49
2013/2014 2 0 1 1 0 1 1 16th 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 17th 36
2014/2015 2 0 2 0 2 2 2 12th 0 1 0 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 13th 44
2015/2016 2 0 1 1 0 3 1 17th 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 14th 43
2016/2017 2 1 0 1 2 2 3 8th 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 3 10th 45
2017/2018 2 2 0 0 2 0 6 2nd 1 0 0 1 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 3

 

Comparison of Equivalent Fixtures^
Pld W D L F A Pts
2016/2017 2 1 1 0 4 3 4
2016/2017 Results Burnley (A) D 2-2
Stoke City (H) W 1-0

 

Results

2002/2003 24/08/2002 Leeds United (H) L 1-3 Marshall
2004/2005 22/08/2004 Aston Villa (H) D 1-1 Clement
2005/2006 20/08/2005 Portsmouth (H) W 2-1 Horsfield (2)
2008/2009 23/08/2008 Everton (H) L 1-2 Bednar (pen)
2010/2011 21/08/2010 Sunderland (H) W 1-0 Odemwingie
2011/2012 20/08/2011 Chelsea (A) L 1-2 Long
2012/2013 25/08/2012 Tottenham Hotspur (A) D 1-1 Morrison
2013/2014 24/08/2013 Everton (A) D 0-0
2014/2015 23/08/2014 Southampton (A) D 0-0
2015/2016 15/08/2015 Watford (A) D 0-0
2016/2017 20/08/2016 Everton (H) L 1-2 McAuley
2017/2018 19/08/2017 Burnley (A) W 1-0 Robson-Kanu

 

Next Matches

2002/2003 27/08/2002 Arsenal (A) L 2-5 Dobie, Roberts
2004/2005 25/08/2004 Tottenham Hotspur (H) D 1-1 Gera
2005/2006 24/08/2005 Chelsea (A) L 0-4
2008/2009 30/08/2008 Bolton Wanderers (A) D 0-0
2010/2011 29/08/2010 Liverpool (A) L 0-1
2011/2012 28/08/2011 Stoke City (H) L 0-1
2012/2013 01/09/2012 Everton (H) W 2-0 Long, McAuley
2013/2014 01/09/2013 Swansea City (H) L 0-2
2014/2015 30/08/2014 Swansea City (A) L 0-3
2015/2016 23/08/2015 Chelsea (H) L 2-3 Morrison (2)
2016/2017 28/08/2016 Middlesbrough (H) D 0-0
2017/2018 27/08/2017 Stoke City (H)

* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the Premier League table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.
^ Fixtures against promoted clubs are compared against fixtures against the relegated clubs from last season with the club finishing 1st in the Championship compared against the club finishing 18th in the Premier League, 2nd compared with 19th and the play-off winners compared against the club who finished bottom.