View: Should Bilic start Bartley or Hegazi in West Brom derby clash v Birmingham?
In some respects, the break in action in the Championship might have come at a good time for West Brom.
The Baggies dropped points in three of their last five matches prior to lockdown, and could well do without continuing that form into the final straight of the season.
But now, with an enforced break behind them, and the likes of Grady Diangana back in contention for a starting spot, we should hopefully see a revitalised Albion sure over the next few weeks.
And that could leave Slaven Bilic with some difficult decisions to make too.
One such call will be whether to go with Kyle Bartley or Ahmed Hegazi at the heart of defence.
Hegazi looked decent when he filled in for a shaky Bartley in the weeks prior to play being suspended, but equally, Bartley did well when he came back in for the injured Egyptian against Swansea City.
Who deserves the nod against Birmingham City on Saturday though?
The stats would suggest that the decision is a pretty obvious one.
According to Wyscout, Bartley has registered 0.49 interceptions more than Hegazi per game this season, as well as making 0.5 more clearances too.
He’s also won 5.8% more aerial duels, and 7.4% more defensive duels in general.
Even his pass completion rate and long pass completion rate are higher.
Of course, he did have that patchy spell earlier this year, and his match rating of 5.93 against Nottingham Forest in February was his joint lowest of the season so far, as per Whoscored.
But this past few weeks has forced everybody into an unexpected reset, and hopefully, given a bit of time to clear his head, Bartley can prove once again that he is the man for the job.
He definitely has the quality to.
In other West Brom news, Local journalist has shared an update after Sky Sports claimed that WBA want this international striker
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