View: £15m man axed & player to earn first PL start of 20/21 – West Brom predicted XI v Man City
Slaven Bilic is predicted to make three changes to the West Brom starting line-up ahead of their daunting clash away at Manchester City on Tuesday night.
Bilic is feeling the pressure after a 5-1 defeat to Crystal Palace and a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle in his last two matches and could make a few changes to keep the team fresh and to also try a new approach in a game he’s not expected to win.
We predict that Matt Phillips, Filip Krovinovic and Karlan Grant will all be dropped for the trip to the Etihad with Kieran Gibbs, Jake Livermore and Charlie Austin all coming in to replace them.
Sam Johnstone is predicted to start in goals behind a back-three of Semi Ajayi, Branislav Ivanovic and Dara O’Shea. Kyle Bartley is injured and will miss the game while it’s unlikely that Cedric Kipre will be handed his Premier League debut for the Baggies against such strong opposition.
Darnell Furlong, who scored in the loss at St James’ Park, is predicted to start as the right-sided wing-back while Gibbs could come in to replace Phillips on the left. Phillips hasn’t played a lot of football this season and completed 90 minutes against Newcastle so he could be rested.
In the midfield, it’s a similar situation with Livermore potentially coming in to replace Krovinovic, who has hardly impressed since his loan return to The Hawthorns from Benfica. Livermore, who could add vital experience and defensive steel to the midfield, might start in a three with Conor Gallagher and Romaine Sawyers.
In the attack, we predict that Grant could be axed by Bilic after proving to be ineffective in recent games. The £15million [Daily Mail] new signing was hooked off at half-time at Newcastle and replaced by Austin. Although Austin didn’t do a lot, he seemed to be in the game a lot more than Grant was and we predict he’ll start against Man City.
However, don’t expect Austin to be on the pitch for long. He struggled to complete 90 minutes whenever he started in the Championship last season and hasn’t earned a spot in Bilic’s starting 11 in the Premier League so far this term.
In other West Brom news, this ex-Baggies defender has been tipped to replace Bilic if he’s sacked.
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