West Bromwich Albion return to Championship action on Saturday as they take on Luton Town at Kenilworth Road, with Carlos Corberan’s side looking to continue their fine recent form.
The Spaniard has well and truly revolutionised the Baggies in his time at the club, transforming fans’ hopes of merely staying up into real aspirations of promotion back to the top flight.
Victory today for Albion would put him two points ahead of the home side in the Championship table and most probably into the play-off positions, a remarkable turnaround from the 23rd position that they occupied when Corberan took the job nearly three months ago.
The former Huddersfield boss made a number of changes last weekend as West Brom narrowly avoided a huge cup upset against Chesterfield, which perhaps highlighted the lack of depth at the Midlands club, but he should return to a full-strength side against fellow play-off hopefuls Luton.
Here is how Football FanCast expects West Brom to line up, with 11 changes from the team which started against Chesterfield.
After being recalled from his loan spell at Portsmouth in midweek, Josh Griffiths is handed his first senior West Brom start in between the sticks.
It’s all change just ahead of him, as Darnell Furlong and Conor Townsend return at full-back, with Erik Pieters and Dara O’Shea looking to continue their fine recent partnership in the heart of defence after Corberan’s side looked unusually susceptible at the back against Chesterfield.
Jayson Molumby and Okay Yokuslu have also formed a strong partnership in the middle of the park so they start in the deeper midfield roles, supporting John Swift in a more advanced position.
Matt Phillips comes in for the “unprofessional” Karlan Grant – as Chris Lepkowski once dubbed him – on the wing, as despite the former Huddersfield man notching a goal and assist against Chesterfield, Corberan hasn’t trusted him on too many occasions in the Championship since his arrival at The Hawthorns.
Jed Wallace also returns to the starting line-up on the opposite flank, replacing Grady Diangana after the former West Ham winger once again flattered to deceive last weekend, receiving a lowly 6.0 rating from Sofascore for his poor display.
Finally, Daryl Dike gets the nod as the sole striker in Corberan’s side, with the American a no-brainer selection after Brandon Thomas-Asante picked up a three-game ban for violent conduct against Chesterfield last time out.
