Highlights
- West Bromwich Albion’s recent form slump continues with a 1-0 loss to Middlesbrough. The team’s lack of creativity was evident, accumulating only 0.35 xG in the match.
- Manager Carlos Corberan may make lineup tweaks for the upcoming match against Norwich City, aiming to secure a win and climb the standings. Norwich is just one spot above West Brom and can overtake them with a victory.
- The predicted XI for the Norwich game includes goalkeeper Alex Palmer, right back Darnell Furlong, center-backs Kyle Bartley and Cedric Kipre, left back Adam Reach, midfielders Okay Yokuslu and Alex Mowatt, winger Grady Diangana, attacking midfielder John Swift, and striker Brandon Thomas-Asante.
West Bromwich Albion’s recent slump in form continued on the road at Middlesbrough last match, Michael Carrick’s Boro winning 1-0 at the expense of Carlos Corberan’s Baggies.
It was a creatively starved display from a West Brom perspective, only accumulating a meagre 0.35 xG – as per Sofascore – over the 90 minutes at the Riverside Stadium.
Carlos Corberan will hope tweaking his lineup slightly for his sides Boxing Day home match against David Wagner’s Norwich City can result in a win, the Canaries travelling to the Hawthorns just one position off the playoff spots and can leapfrog the hosts with a victory.
Here’s what the West Brom predicted XI could look like for the clash today, with Conor Townsend axed potentially by his Spanish manager…
1
GK – Alex Palmer
Yet to miss a game in the second tier this season for West Brom, Alex Palmer will be retained for the Boxing Day home game. Without Palmer in goal away at Middlesbrough, the Baggies could have been on the recieving end of an absolute drubbing.
2
RB – Darnell Furlong
Darnell Furlong will also get the nod to start again on Boxing Day, putting in a competent display against Boro before being substituted off by Corberan late on.
Furlong won 70% of his duels in the game, not run ragged by the Boro attackers who caused other members of the back four far more trouble.
3
CB – Kyle Bartley
Kyle Bartley wasn’t at his assertive best whatsoever against Carrick’s hosts, failing to win a single ground duel in the contest as Morgan Rogers dazzled for the buoyed-on home side throughout.
Yet, he was nearly a Baggies hero with a header that clipped the post to be within inches of gifting his team a goal. Corberan won’t get rid of Bartley completely despite this average showing, confident he can be an authoritative presence again versus the Canaries.
4
CB – Cedric Kipre
Cedric Kipre should also start the next match at the Hawthorns, the lofty 27-year-old battling away in the contest valiantly despite the loss.
Winning half of his duels in the game, he will want another clean sheet to add to his season total when Norwich come to town.
5
LB – Adam Reach
A bold decision potentially by Corberan – but one that could make a lot of sense – is dropping Conor Townsend after another below-par performance for forgotten figure Adam Reach to come into the team.
Townsend looked sheepish throughout the game at the Riverside, the likes of Isaiah Jones having a field day against the passive Baggies back four which included terrorising the number three.
Reach can fill in at left-back as a versatile figure in the Baggies camp for the home game against Norwich if needed, the experienced utility figure labelled as “very useful” by Corberan for his willingness to play in a whole host of positions.
It would be the 30-year-old’s first taste of second tier action this season however, the former Sheffield Wednesday man out of the side completely with injury before being fit enough to be named on the bench for the last couple of matches.
6
CM – Okay Yokuslu
Okay Yokuslu should also stay in Corberan’s team for the Canaries clash, attempting to find the back of Tom Glover’s net with two efforts in the defeat at Boro but to no avail.
The Turkish midfielder excelled more so at launching into tackles and interceptions, making four combined overall at the Riverside.
7
CM – Alex Mowatt
Alex Mowatt was the more creative holding midfielder in the settled duo versus Boro, coming away from the loss with his head held high after an impressive individual display.
Accurate with all five of his crosses in the game and notching up four key passes, Mowatt will hope he can be as creative versus Norwich but come away with an assist or a goal this time.
8
RM – Grady Diangana
Grady Diangana continues to underwhelm in a Baggies strip, failing to register a single shot on goal in the loss at the Riverside with zero successful dribbles also managed.
Yet, there’s always a flicker of hope with the Congolese winger that he will just suddenly burst back into the life and so he should be retained for the game against the visitors from Norfolk on Boxing Day.
Tom Fellows could well be in contention to come in ahead of Diangana, but Corberan will trust in his more experienced attacker to start the 90 minutes and come good rather than dropping him completely.
9
CAM – John Swift
Corberan could drop Jed Wallace for the game against Wagner’s playoff hopefuls, the experienced and adaptable midfielder not at the races versus Boro at all.
Unlike Mowatt who was constantly in the thick of the action as a creative spark, Wallace was somewhat passive and inaccurate even when the ball was at his feet in key moments – only managing to register three accurate crosses from eight attempts, the ex-Millwall man regularly killing positive momentum in the process.
Swift is also deserving of another shot in the starting line-up arguably, calm and measured when substituted on in place of an out-of-sorts Wallace with one accurate dribble attempt managed despite only being on the Riverside pitch for merely 16 minutes.
10
LM – Jeremy Sarmiento
Jeremy Sarmiento will not fall victim to the same fate as Conor Townsend down the left-hand side, kept in the line-up even after a mixed display on the road from the Brighton loanee.
Sarmiento was far livelier than Diangana down the right-hand flank, successfully winning seven ground duels in the match and further completing one successful dribble.
The South American livewire was however anonymous when it came to testing the Boro goalkeeper with efforts on goal, managing zero shots before being substituted off just shy of the hour mark.
Corberan will want more from his attacker, who showed the West Brom fans what he’s truly capable of with a long-range strike versus Cardiff City early into his loan switch.
11
ST – Brandon Thomas-Asante
Brandon Thomas-Asante was equally poor when it came to testing the Boro shot-stopper, managing just a single off-target effort from his lacklustre 90 minutes.
Yet, there’s a lack of available options at Corberan’s disposal to come in and snatch Thomas-Asante’s starting spot away from him – Josh Maja out injured alongside Daryl Dike, who is nearing towards a Baggies return soon.
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Thomas-Asante will hope he can fire in a goal versus Norwich, taking his Championship tally to seven if he was successful against a leaky Canaries defence.
