Match Analysis · West Bromwich Albion

Three Players Shared West Brom's No. 9 Work

West Brom trailed Burnley without suspended centre-forward Aune Heggebø, then won 3-1 as Isaac Price, Harry Whitwell and Jimmy-Jay Morgan shared the work through the middle.

By Malik ThompsonAugust 23, 2026Updated August 234 min read

An absence distributed the work

West Bromwich Albion began against Burnley without suspended centre-forward Aune Heggebø and then conceded an own goal after eight minutes. That is usually when a missing striker starts to feel like a missing excuse. Instead, Albion turned the vacancy into their most productive area and won 3-1 because three attackers kept arriving there from different directions.

Isaac Price did not spend the afternoon pretending to be a conventional No. 9. Harry Whitwell did not wait politely outside the box. Jimmy-Jay Morgan did not treat his starting position as a fence. They exchanged the work: one received, one ran beyond, one attacked the next ball. Burnley could identify the danger and still struggled to identify whose danger it was.

Morgan connected the vacancy

Callum Styles' attempted clearance put Burnley ahead in the eighth minute. Ten minutes later, Morgan set Whitwell and the midfielder found the bottom corner from inside the area.

The goal did more than level the match. It stopped an improvised attack from becoming anxious and gave West Brom permission to keep sharing responsibility rather than funnel every move toward an absent reference point.

Whitwell attacked the invitation

That matters for development. A young player can be told to express himself until the phrase becomes wallpaper. Whitwell was given something more useful: a clear invitation to enter the box when Price moved away from it and Morgan connected the play.

His run produced the equaliser, and his later collision with Bashir Humphreys produced the penalty that settled the match. The role rewarded timing, not theatre.

Price arrived at the second action

One minute after halftime, Price curled West Brom in front from outside the area. In the 65th minute he converted the penalty for his second goal. Sky Sports credited him with two goals and the assist for Whitwell's equaliser. It is tempting to reduce that line to one player carrying the attack. The better reading is that Albion created enough movement around him to let his decisions matter.

Price could arrive rather than wrestle two centre-backs with his back to goal. Morgan's involvement pulled attention into the first phase. Whitwell's running forced defenders to track a second route. Price then occupied the loose space, the place Championship midfields routinely leave while everyone is busy proving how compact they are. His first chance had come after only five minutes, when Whitwell found him and Max Weiss held the shot. The lane was visible before the score rewarded it. Price was the star, but the structure spared him from having to be the entire constellation.

Burnley limits the lesson

There is a serious counterargument. Burnley conceded shortly after halftime, made three substitutions before the hour and then gave away a penalty. Their own report acknowledged that they finished the first half on top before West Brom took control immediately after the restart. One opponent's loose central defending cannot certify Albion's promotion attack in August.

Nor should two league wins be inflated into a table prophecy. West Brom are one of the sides with a perfect Championship start, but the useful evidence is smaller: after falling behind, they generated goals through a repeatable exchange of roles rather than a lucky equaliser followed by retreat. The own goal belonged to Burnley. Albion's three responses belonged to Albion.

Heggebø should return to movement

Heggebø's return should add a reference point, not close the space that Price and Whitwell used. A centre-forward can pin defenders and improve the first pass into the box. He should not turn the midfield runners back into spectators waiting for a cross.

Heggebø's return puts the choice with the coaches. They can use him to occupy the centre-backs while Price, Whitwell and Morgan keep exchanging the spaces around him, or they can restore fixed stations and make Sunday's flexibility an emergency measure. The players have shown they can share the No. 9 work. Their support now depends on whether the role remains open enough to let them do it.

2026-2027 season

Championship standings

Official SportsDB table · Updated 11:52 AM

#	Team	GP	W	D	L	GD	Pts	Form
1	Millwall	2	2	0	0	+5	6	W W
2	West Bromwich Albion	2	2	0	0	+3	6	W W
3	Charlton Athletic	2	2	0	0	+2	6	W W
4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2	1	1	0	+2	4	W D
5	Queens Park Rangers	2	1	1	0	+2	4	D W
6	Blackburn Rovers	2	1	1	0	+1	4	W D
7	Watford	2	1	1	0	+1	4	D W
8	Bolton Wanderers	2	1	1	0	+1	4	D W
9	Swansea City	2	1	1	0	+1	4	D W
10	Portsmouth	2	1	0	1	0	3	W L
11	Middlesbrough	2	1	0	1	0	3	L W
12	Cardiff City	2	0	2	0	0	2	D D
13	Birmingham City	2	0	2	0	0	2	D D
14	Wrexham	2	0	2	0	0	2	D D
15	Sheffield United	2	0	2	0	0	2	D D
16	Derby County	2	0	1	1	-1	1	D L
17	West Ham United	2	0	1	1	-1	1	L D
18	Burnley	2	0	1	1	-2	1	L D
19	Bristol City	2	0	1	1	-2	1	D L
20	Preston North End	2	0	0	2	-3	0	L L
21	Stoke City	2	0	0	2	-3	0	L L
22	Lincoln City	2	0	0	2	-3	0	L L
23	Norwich City	2	0	0	2	-4	0	L L
24	Southampton	2	1	0	1	+1	-1	W L