Carlos Corberan will be fearing the worst ahead of West Bromwich Albion’s trip to Rotherham United tonight, losing to the Millers at the New York Stadium would be the Baggies’ third defeat on the spin with injuries stacking up for the West Midlanders at present.
The playoff-chasers will be without Matt Phillips and Jed Wallace in midfield for the game in South Yorkshire, whilst Josh Maja was substituted off in the 2-1 loss to Sunderland last match owing to a knock and looks as if he too will be absent for the contest.
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Corberan will be scrambling around to decide what starting team he should field for the game tonight, with this predicted XI on the cards as one Baggies dud looks as if he will miss out…
1
GK – Alex Palmer
Alex Palmer will be retained in this starting line-up by Corberan for the trip to Yorkshire, yet to miss a game this season under the Spanish boss.
Palmer was credited with three saves away from conceding twice in the 2-1 defeat to Sunderland as per Sofascore, helping to keep the scoreline respectable at the Stadium of Light.
2
RB – Darnell Furlong
Darnell Furlong is a well-respected figure at the Hawthorns in defence, amassing 172 appearances for the Baggies to date.
This season, he’s been largely everpresent under Corberan but wasn’t at his best versus the Black Cats – losing possession a grand total of 20 times to consistently put his team under unnecessary pressure.
Still, with two goals and one assist from right-back this campaign, Corberan will hope he can be a creative force against Rotherham United to expose a leaky Millers defence whilst also competently completing his standard defensive duties.
3
CB – Kyle Bartley
Kyle Bartley will also likely start away at Rotherham tonight, the tough centre-back helping his well-oiled side keep seven clean sheets when playing this season.
Still, even the most experienced players have off days as was evident in the 32-year-old’s individual performance against Sunderland – substituted off on the 75th minute mark after losing all of his duels.
Despite this poor display, Bartley will be trusted at the back for the trip to Rotherham.
4
CB – Cedric Kipre
Cedric Kipre exited the field of play at the Stadium of Light with his head held high despite the final score, the Ivorian centre-back doing his utmost to thwart Sunderland advancing forward.
Kipre would win six of his nine duels in the 2-1 defeat whilst also winning a combined five interceptions and tackles against the Black Cats.
5
LB – Conor Townsend
Conor Townsend didn’t quite cover himself in glory however compared to Kipre’s valiant efforts, the Baggies captain putting in an unconvincing shift versus Sunderland.
The 30-year-old was ineffective going forward with one failed cross attempt, whilst Patrick Roberts for the hosts routinely had him on toast with Roberts completing three successful dribble attempts.
He will however start owing to a lack of other options at left-back being readily available, the Baggies skipper eager to show what’s truly capable of again at the New York Stadium.
6
CM – Okay Yokuşlu
Okay Yokuşlu will walk back into Corberan’s starting lineup for the game at Rotherham tonight after serving a suspension, the Turkish midfielder’s stand-in Jayson Molumby was poor throughout the slim Sunderland defeat when gifted a rare first-team appearance.
Molumby failed to impose himself onto the contest with zero tackles registered, whilst further being wasteful venturing forward with two off-target efforts attempted in a dire 60-minute spell on the pitch.
It led to Birmingham Live journalist Joseph Chapman giving Molumby a 5/10 rating for his performance at the Stadium of Light, singling out the midfielder for his “erratic” passing.
Yokuşlu will start ahead of Molumby and make that position his own again, hoping to be a forceful and disruptive presence that can easily nullify Rotherham and help his team get back to winning ways.
7
CM – Alex Mowatt
Alex Mowatt shined where Molumby failed against Sunderland, the former Leeds United man was calm and controlled on the ball with three key passes registered in a bright 90 minutes for the midfielder.
He was also a presence that Sunderland had to keep tabs on defensively, notching up two efforts on Anthony Patterson’s goal with one effort having to be blocked.
Mowatt will hope he can be a creative spark again when his team face off against Rotherham United, keen to add another goal or assist to his season tally versus the Millers from a holding role – the 28-year-old credited with a solitary goal and two assists so far after 18 games played.
8
RM – Grady Diangana
Grady Diangana has played in a whole host of positions in attack for the Baggies recently, filling in where needed in the absence of star men Phillips and Wallace in the team.
The ex West Ham United forward has been played recently through the centre as an attacking midfield option on top of playing as a lone striker, but he underwhelmed reverting back to his natural right wing spot against Sunderland.
But, despite failing to hit a single shot on target against the Black Cats in a torrid 60-minute display, Corberan will continue to persist with his out-of-form attacker praying that he flickers back into life soon.
With Rotherham conceding 39 goals this campaign to date – the leakiest defence in the division this season – Diangana could cause the Millers all sorts of havoc at the back if he is firing on all cylinders again.
9
CAM – John Swift
Likewise, John Swift on his day can terrorise Championship defences but the former Chelsea midfielder was nowhere near his best versus Sunderland.
Labelled by Birmingham Live journalist Joseph Chapman as looking “rusty” – an understandable description considering he is just back from a long-term injury lay-off – Swift will need to get back up to speed soon to help his team going forward in crunch matches to come.
Much like Diangana, Corberan will just hope starting Swift against a poor Rotherham side can give him a boost and get him back on the scoresheet after a blistering start to the second-tier season – scoring six times for the Baggies before an injury cruelly intervened.
10
LM – Jeremy Sarmiento
West Brom’s on-loan winger has shown flashes of his brilliance this campaign since making the temporary switch from Brighton, his long-range strike against Cardiff City recently a standout moment from his short time with the club.
He was quiet in stark contrast away at the Stadium of Light last time out but showed glimpses again of his immense quality in patches.
Firing three efforts at Patterson’s goal in the game, with just one being dangerous enough to require a block, Corberan will hope his loaned-in winger can find the back of the net again in spectacular fashion versus Rotherham to help his team pick up three points.
11
ST – Brandon Thomas-Asante
With Josh Maja looking likely to miss this match sidelined with an injury, Brandon Thomas-Asante could come to the rescue and start instead as West Brom’s lone striker.
Thomas-Asante did benefit from Maja limping off by scoring West Brom’s only goal of the game last match against Sunderland, latching onto fellow substitute Pipa’s cross to head home what proved to only be a consolation effort in the end.
Still, the former Salford City man will be buoyed on by that goal finding the back of the net and will be hungry to add more goals to his season tally if Corberan starts him against a fragile Rotherham defence.
