View: No changes in Bilic 4-3-3 – West Brom predicted XI v Nottm Forest
West Brom will be aiming to win a fourth match in a row on Saturday afternoon when they welcome fellow promotion hopefuls Nottingham Forest to The Hawthorns.
Albion moved six points clear at the top of the Championship table on Wednesday night with a terrific win away at Reading while Forest failed to take advantage of Leeds and Fulham dropping points by losing at home against struggling Charlton.
Slaven Bilic has named an unchanged starting line-up in the last two matches and although it has only been a few days since West Brom’s last outing, we are predicting that the manager will keep things as they are yet again this weekend.
Bilic has shifted his formation slightly in recent weeks with the Baggies lining up in more of a 4-3-3 formation, rather than the 4-2-3-1 that has been utilisied most of the season.
The switch in tactics has seen Filip Krovinovic come alive in the more attacking midfield role with Callum Robinson and Matheus Pereira both doing the business either side of the striker in the attack.
While Bilic could make a couple of subtle changes to keep things fresh, he has learned already this season that tweaking his line-up can lead to a drop in form, which is why we expect the same starting line-up this weekend when Forest arrive in the Black Country.
It means that Sam Johnstone will start in goals behind a back-four of Dara O’Shea, Semi Ajayi, Kyle Bartley and Conor Townsend.
Romaine Sawyers and Jake Livermore are expected to start in the centre of the midfield with in-form Krovinovic just ahead of them in the more advanced central role.
Pereira and January signing Robinson are then predicted to flank either side of lone-striker Hal Robson-Kanu.
In other West Brom news, David Prutton has predicted the scoreline for this weekend’s match.