The run-in: How many points do West Brom need to secure promotion?

It seems the Premier League has been calling Albion through the entirety of this season, with the Baggies at one point cruising atop the table, with many expecting them to be playing in the top flight in the 2020/21 season.

But Albion’s hiccup over Christmas has ensured that the Championship title race is a far fling from that of the Premier League’s, with West Brom doing battle with Leeds in the top two, with the likes of Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Brentford all in the chasing pack and still in the race for automatic promotion.

With the weeks passing by, more and more supporters have their eyes glued to the table and their club’s upcoming fixtures, trying to calculate just how many points their side will need to achieve their goal - and Albion fans are no different.

So, how many points will it take for the Baggies to bounce back up to the Premier League at the second time of asking?

Over the past five seasons, we’ve seen numerous teams make the jump up from the second tier, and all at varying clips. Wolves famously cantered to the Championship title in 2018, notching 99 points en-route. Whilst Bournemouth managed the same feat with just 90 back in 2015 - although that was far from a canter for the Cherries in comparison.

In theory, Sheffield United would have only needed to log 84 points last season to finish second and book their place amongst the elite sides in England - with Leeds in third boasting just 83 points over the campaign before falling in the lottery of the playoffs. The Blades actually managed 89.

With all that taken into account, it’s clear that there is no hard and fast number - although if you notch 90 points, you’ll be very hard done by not to go up automatically.

This season so far, Albion have earned themselves 69 points from 36 games, an average of 1.92 points per game. If they were to replicate that form over their run-in, Bilic’s side would total an extra 19 points - leaving them with 88 points.

The average amount of points needed to claim the title over the past five seasons is a lofty 94, whilst the average second-placed team has earned 90. That might get some Baggies fans nervous about their side’s prospects - but in reality, this season appears to be one which could warrant a lower total.

Whilst Leeds are just a single point behind the Baggies, Fulham remain six behind the Baggies. That would require them to put in a huge effort to not only catch, but surpass Albion’s eventual total.

To put that into context, if Fulham were to reach the 90-point mark, the would need to average 2.7 points per game, even the most optimistic Cottagers fan would consider that unlikely. Forest meanwhile, would need to emulate Aston Villa’s historic late run last season and win their 10 final games to hit that total.

Looking further down the pile, Preston can now only total 89 points, whilst Bristol City can only muster 84. Meanwhile the likes of Blackburn, Swansea and Millwall are completely out of the discussion for the top two.

Simply put, if a team registers 90 points come the end of the season, barring a miraculous run from elsewhere, they’ll be playing in the top flight next season. Realistically, anything above 84 points will probably do the job - if teams continue their current average accumulation of points.

Of course, the Championship is a funny league, we shouldn’t rule out any team pulling off an Aston Villa-styled run over the next 10 games. But if the Baggies stick to their average, it’s likely that they’ll be battling with the big boys in the top flight come August.