Much of the early play in the Potters half, but no attacking threat for either side as yet.

Jed Wallace tries to play in Grady Diangana, but Jordan Thompson sees the ball out for a goalkick.

It's been a busy few weeks for the managerial merry-go-round in the Championship, so much so that this will actually be the third game in a row that Carlos Corberán's Baggies have faced a side who have just sacked a manager.

A 2-1 defeat at Sunderland was followed up with a 2-0 win at Rotherham. Time to see how they'll fare against the wounded Potters today....

And we're under way.

There's plenty of Santa hats in the stands - but who will take home the gift of three points?

Let's find out.

West Brom boss Carlos Corberan is again without Josh Maja after confirming the striker will be out for ‘months’ with a fractured ankle picked up against Sunderland last weekend, joining long-term absentees Matty Phillips and Daryl Dike in the treatment room.

He makes just one change from the win over Rotherham in midweek, as Jed Wallace, who scored off the bench in South Yorkshire, starts in midfield in place of Jayson Molumby.

The former Millwall man also skippers the side this afternoon.

West Brom: Palmer, Furlong, Kipre, Bartley, Townsend, Mowatt, Yokuslu, Wallace (capt), Diangana, Sarmiento, Thomas-Asante.

Substitutes: Griffiths, Ajayi, Molumby, Fellows, Pieters, Chalobah, Pipa, Taylor, Reach.

Stoke interim manager Paul Gallagher makes two changes from the side which drew with Swansea on Tuesday.

South Korean midfielder Bae Junho takes the place of the suspended Ben Pearson, while Jordan Thompson comes into midfield for Junior Tchamadeu.

Stoke City: Bonham, Gooch, Rose, Burger, Johnson, Thompson, Hoever, Mmaee, Junho, McNally, Laurent (capt).

Substitutes: Simkin, Vidigal, Baker, Wesley, Jojić, Tchamadeu, Clark, Léris, Lowe.

Stoke make their shortest trip of the league season today as they head 40 miles down the M6, chasing a first Championship win since way back on 28 October.

The Potters have picked up just three points in seven matches since that 2-0 win over Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough and lost manager Alex Neil after four successive defeats.

However, Paul Gallagher did pick up a win in his first match as caretaker boss in midweek and was only denied three points by an 89th-minute Swansea equaliser.

Stoke sit uncomfortably close to the relegation places, two points and two places above third-bottom QPR

They would dearly love to give fans some festive cheer by making that gap a little less precarious. A win today would lift them above Millwall into 19th.

City have held the slight upper hand in most recent seasons, winning four of the last six meetings between the sides. dating back to January 2020.

Image source, Getty Images

It’s been a mixed bag of form for West Brom in recent weeks, combining three wins with as many defeats, including a midweek 2-0 victory at Rotherham last time out.

The sequence leaves them occupying the final play-off spot in sixth place, but the Baggies will leapfrog above Hull City into fifth if they avoid defeat today against the Potters.

They’ve hosted the Championship’s frontrunners in their last two matches at the Hawthorns, following an impressive win over Ipswich Town with a narrow defeat to leaders Leicester City - and Albion haven’t lost successive home league matches since October 2022.

This fixture usually throws up a positive result, with none of the last nine league meetings ending in a draw

And the points have been evenly shared in that sequence, with the Baggies edging their opponents by five wins to four. They also knocked the Potters out of the EFL Cup in August.

Sunday lunchtime is fast approaching and with it the latest main course from the Championship.

Managerless Stoke make the short trip across the West Midlands to West Brom in desperate need for points to make Christmas a little merrier for their fans.

And the Baggies are hungry for points for very different reasons as they look to bolster their place in the play-off positions and stop the top two disappearing completely over the horizon.

Who do you fancy?