New Baggies belief ahead of Bristol trip

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·20 marzo 2026

New Baggies belief ahead of Bristol trip

Bristol City v West Bromwich Albion; Ashton Gate, Saturday 21st March 2026, 3pm

A little under three weeks ago, the outlook for the Baggies looked very bleak. A seemingly unbothered team had timidly surrendered to a poor Oxford United side to record the first defeat of James Morrison’s fledgling head coaching career, and the club looked destined for the drop to the third tier for only the second time in its history.

Mozza took a risk by publicly lambasting his players in the wake of the chaos at the Kassam, but after three improved performances and, more importantly, a first win of 2026, it is a risk that seems to have paid off. The performance against Hull City last weekend was undoubtedly the best of the campaign so far and, arguably, the best since Slaven Bilić’s team were fighting at the top of the Championship in the early weeks of 2020.

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I always felt that the current squad had the footballing ability to be fighting for a play-off spot, but whether it had the collective mentality required for a relegation fight was always in doubt. One swallow doesn’t make a summer, of course, and we have seen plenty of false dawns in the past few years, but after last weekend’s comprehensive Tiger slaughter, it’s as positive as I’ve felt since the early days of the season.

The transformation has been remarkable, and must, at least partly, be down to Morrison’s decision to switch to a 4-4-2 formation that was once ubiquitous but is now rarely seen. By putting two natural strikers at the top of the pitch, and two combative midfielders behind them, it seems to have given the team a structure and focus that it has lacked all season. Injuries to Grant and Johnston may have forced Mozza’s hand to a degree, but Wallace is a natural wide midfielder and Price has himself stated that he prefers to play on the left. With both supported by fullbacks who like to get forward in Imray and Styles, it is a formation that seems an obvious solution once you’ve seen it employed – with a squad limited by numbers and injuries, it is the one that puts the most players in positions where they feel comfortable.

Although the formation has remained consistent for the last three games, Mozza has both been forced, and opted on occasion, to change personnel. The full-backs and midfield pair of Molumby and Diakité have been consistent, but the centre back pairing has been different in each match, largely down to injury, while Wallace didn’t start at Bramall Lane and Maja was preferred to Dike against Hull.

I’m sure Mozza would have kept the same eleven for Ashton Gate but O’Leary is not available having picked up a knock against Hull. He would have been eligible, and no doubt eager, to play at Ashton Gate having joined on a permanent deal from Bristol City in January. It was also reported on Friday that Krystian Bielik will have a further spell on the sidelines as he is to undergo surgery on his shoulder injury.

As for the opposition, they were on the verge of the play-offs less than two months ago after beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-0. They then suffered a remarkable 5-0 home defeat to Derby County and have not won at Ashton Gate since, their only two wins coming on the road at Hull and Blackburn. They had lost four on the bounce, including 1-0 at struggling Port Vale in the FA Cup, until they earned an unexpected point at Middlesbrough last time out thanks to a 96th minute equaliser.

As positive as the result against Hull City was, the fact remains that the Baggies haven’t won on the road, other than on penalties, since 1st October making it just four wins from the last 39 away league matches. With the majority of Albion’s remaining home games against promotion-chasing teams, they may need to pick up a win or two on the road if they are to escape the drop. Saturday’s trip to Ashton Gate looks like a decent opportunity.

History

In 2025, Bristol City recorded successive victories over the Baggies for the first time since the early nineties and they have never beaten Albion three times on the trot. Furthermore, City have only once before completed a league double over the Baggies, way back in the 1905/06 season when they won 1-0 at Ashton Gate in October and 3-1 at the Hawthorns the following February.

The Baggies do have a good record against the Robins having won 26 of the 62 meetings to date scoring 95 goals and conceding 69. In the 20 meetings in 21st century, the Baggies have averaged almost two goals per game scoring 39 and conceding only 24 winning 10 and losing 6. The goalscoring statistic was helped by four four-goal home wins in that period under four different managers. 4-1 under Tony Mowbray (2007), Roberto di Matteo (2009) and Slaven Bilić (2019) and a 4-2 win under Darren Moore (2018).

The 3-0 win under Slav in February 2020 that completed the league double that season is Albion’s biggest victory away to the Robins and the most recent of the three occasions that the Baggies have scored three at Ashton Gate. In 1998, a Lee Hughes double helped Denis Smith’s team to a 3-1 victory with James Quinn scoring the other Albion goal, while on Boxing Day 1928 it was Stan Wood who grabbed a double with Jimmy Cookson scoring the winner in a 3-2 victory.

City have never scored more than three in any match against Albion and their biggest ever victory was just three years ago, a 3-0 win in the FA Cup fourth round – in the league at Ashton Gate, they won 3-1 in 1977 and 3-2 in 2019 when goals from Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez were not quite enough to come back from the 3-0 lead the hosts had established in the opening 19 minutes. Future Baggies Max O’Leary and Andi Weimann were in the City team that day.