Middlesbrough v West Brom preview: Reunion with Tony Pulis adds layer of intrigue

This fixture is much more than just a heavyweight clash at the top of the division between two teams expecting to challenge for promotion.

For almost three years, Tony Pulis stamped his identity on Albion, and during that time, Moore was in the background, honing his own skills.

Moore learned a lot from Pulis, who he’s known for nearly two decades, but in the past week his fledgling Albion side is starting to take shape, and it’s a different shape to that of his old boss.

The Baggies travel to the Riverside with 11 goals from their last two league games, but Pulis’s unbeaten Boro side still sit above them in the table after an impressive start.

Following QPR’s second-half capitulation last weekend, this will be a much better barometer of how far Albion have come so far under Moore.

On top of that, many of Albion’s players who start on Friday night were signed by Pulis, and played under him. They will know his methods, and he will know their attributes.

Moore insists ‘it’s a game for three points and no more’ but there is a reason this fixture has been picked for live television coverage and moved to Friday night.

Despite winning 7-1 last weekend, Albion’s head coach didn’t rule out changing his formation from the successful 3-4-1-2 system that tore through Rangers.

“Just because a team might have won the previous week it doesn’t mean I’m going to keep the same formation or players,” he said. “We’ll chop and change how we deem fit for the opposition that’s ahead of us.”

But without a recognised right-back at the club yet, and considering Harvey Barnes’s joy in the central role, Moore would be brave to tinker too much.

And he admitted that it was dangerous to focus on trying to second-guess or surprise an opposition manager that has so much prior knowledge of the team.

“It’s doesn’t work that way,” said Moore. “You just select a team you feel is right to get a performance and get the job done.

"You don’t go with surprises or anything like that. We’ve all got enough experience in the game to know each other’s teams, I don’t think you’ll surprise him.”

The concern is that Boro will capitalise on Albion’s weakness in the air, which has already been exploited by weaker opposition. There are few coaches more dangerous at set pieces than Pulis.

But billing this match as a clash of cultures is slightly reductionist. Pulis’s Boro is not the same as Pulis’s Albion.

“He’s gone with different formations up there and it is a bit more expansive than what people have been used to,” said Moore. “At the moment, he’s getting the right tune out of them.”

Certain fans would be delighted to win this match in particular, but Moore is not treating it differently to any other. “Any game is a good game to win,” he smiled.

Albion's key man

Harvey Barnes was the catalyst for Albion’s exciting attacks last weekend, but he won’t be afforded as much space this time around. How he deals with that extra attention could prove key.

Boro's dangerman

Martin Braithwaite has been Boro’s brightest spark so far, netting three times in total, despite speculation he may move away this summer. However, Tony Pulis does not want to lose the influential 27-year-old and is refusing to sanction a sale.

Memory lane

In September 2009, Albion thrashed Boro 5-0 at the Riverside. Chris Brunt scored twice in the first half, before Youssouf Mulumbu, Roman Bednar and Jerome Thomas completed the rout.