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To lose one game at home when you’ve largely dominated but can’t score is unfortunate. To lose three out of four is a very worrying pattern.
Potentially the most damning thing was Derby’s game plan. They seemed content to sit back and defend in the knowledge they could keep Pompey at bay and get a goal from a counter attack or a set-piece.
They were right. They hit the post
Relegation to the third tier of English football should be virtually unimaginable for West Bromwich Albion.
Afterall, it has only happened once before, back in 1990/91.
But, with the Baggies tumbling into the Championship’s bottom three courtesy of Blackburn’s win over Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night, there’s a very real possibility that history could repeat itself some 35-years on.
Most casual observers seem bemused by Albion’s plight.
A glance at
United have made a record-breaking start to the campaign – in an unwanted sense.
No team in second-tier history has ever had a bigger drop-off in points across the first 15 games of a campaign than their hefty deficit of 23 from last season.
The Blades had accrued 33 points by that stage last term – but began Sunday’s derby on just 10.
They have lost 11 league games already,
Blackburn’s form is in stark contrast to last season, when the club struggled for form in the Championship and Eustace arrived as replacement for Jon Dahl Tomasson following a run of eight Championship games without victory.
The former Birmingham City boss then kept the club in the division having navigated them to a 19th-place finish, three points clear of the drop zone.
Some canny signings in the summer, including former
A fifth or sixth-placed Premier League finish would give the Blues a spot in next season’s Europa League, while seventh is only good enough for the Europa Conference League.
However, if rivals Manchester United finish outside the top six they could still take a Europa League place by winning the FA Cup.
If that were to happen, the side finishing fifth would also enter the Europa League, but sixth place