Sawyers dropped, Diagne on the bench – 2 changes in confirmed West Brom starting XI v Fulham
West Brom have made two changes to the side ahead of the vital clash with Fulham at The Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon.
Albion were thrashed 5-0 by Manchester City on Tuesday and Big Sam has acted by making a couple of alterations to the team with Kyle Bartley and Conor Gallagher coming in for Romaine Sawyers and Karlan Grant.
The team was announced on the club’s official Twitter account before the game as fans waited to see if Big Sam would make changes.
Sam Johnstone starts in goal as he aims to keep a first clean sheet since November 28.
In front of him will be what looks like a five-man defence with Darnell Furlong, Dara O’Shea, Semi Ajayi, Kyle Bartley and Kieran Gibbs as they aim to keep out a Fulham attack that has only scored once in the last four games.
Patrolling the midfield will be Jake Livermore and Conor Gallagher who replaces Sawyers and they will face a tough battle against the impressive Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa in the Fulham midfield.
Robert Snodgrass, Matheus Pereira and Callum Robinson form the Albion attacking trio.
Mbaye Diagne signed from Galatasaray on Friday evening but has to settle for a place on the bench.
They don’t get any bigger than this
This really is a relegation ‘six-pointer’ with Fulham only one place and two points above Albion in the table with both sides eyeing Brighton in 17th.
The visitors gained their first Premier League win of the season when they beat West Brom 2-0 at Craven Cottage on November 2.
Fulham were good value for their win and have proved to be a difficult side to break down in recent weeks and have only lost two of their last eight league games, though the other six were all draws.
They have only conceded six goals in this period as they have shown themselves to be a tough nut to crack.
With a trip to Sheffield United coming up after this Big Sam will be eyeing maximum points before a couple of tough tests against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.
Let’s hope Albion can do the business today and start putting some pressure on the likes of Brighton and Newcastle United.
In other West Brom news, our view on why Albion must prioritise a move for this ‘Rolls-Royce’ 23y/o.
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