West Brom may be in for a tough campaign

Tony Pulis has never suffered relegation in a managerial career which started in 1992 and there was another statistic to make him proud last season as he claimed a top-half Premier League spot for the first time.

West Brom finished tenth despite a woeful second half to the campaign. They were 16th in the 2017 table and from March onwards no team secured fewer points than their total of five.

There are two differing opinions on Albion's slump and which camp you are in will likely determine whether you see West Brom as a safe mid-table outfit or one ripe for a relegation battle.

One group can point to an easing-off factor from West Brom once the magical 40-point target was hit thanks to a 2-1 win over Bournemouth in late February.

Pulis, who admitted in this pre-season that his squad lacked depth, made the fewest changes of any Premier League manager and also fielded the team with the oldest average age in the division.

If Albion did nothing more than lose focus with a tired team all should be well this term. However, what if something far more damaging in the long-term was at play and the way West Brom accumulated points earlier in the season was simply unsustainable?

Albion scored only 43 goals with a staggering 20 of those coming from set-pieces and another via the penalty spot.

Only the relegated clubs notched fewer goals from open play and no matter how good Pulis is at working on corners and free-kick routines he will be lucky to a repeat a figure of nearly 50 per cent set-piece goals.

Pulis has attempted to beef up his attacking options with the arrival of injury-hit but silky Jay Rodriguez from Southampton and if the striker stays fit he could usurp Salomon Rondon in the team.

Rondon scored just once after notching a hat-trick of headers against Swansea on December 14, but he was maybe missing the service of long-term injured winger Matty Phillips. Albion lost eight and drew two of the 12 matches the flying Scot failed to start.

Midfielder Darren Fletcher's departure leaves a hole and while Pulis will probably find another a safety route, this should be a tougher campaign.

Key stat
West Brom averaged the lowest possession in the Premier League last season with just 40.7 per cent.