Diangana to start in West Brom predicted XI v Crystal Palace
Grady Diangana is pushing for a return on Saturday and he could be joined by Robert Snodgrass in the West Brom starting line-up.
The pair have both missed games recently through illness and injury respectively, though Snodgrass did feature on the bench against Newcastle.
We have missed them as Matt Phillips and Matheus Pereira let the team down last Sunday.
Phillips missed a brilliant chance to score while the Brazilian once again had minimal influence on proceedings – he simply is not a winger.
Having said that, it is difficult to leave Pereira out of the team, particularly as we have struggled with a lack of creativity in recent weeks – highlighted by a return of two goals in six games.
Diangana would provide us with pace on one wing while Snodgrass adds a threat from crosses on the other.
That is vital to getting the best out of Mbaye Diagne – his only goal for Albion came from header against Manchester United. His disallowed goal against Everton was also produced by a cross.
With that under consideration, here is how we predict Sam Allardyce to line up.
The other big change is the inclusion of Ainsley Maitland-Niles at right-back.
The Arsenal loanee has come under fire after recent games and according to SofaScore he completed zero key passes and achieved 76% pass accuracy against Newcastle.
That is underwhelming and helps to explain why we never got going last weekend.
There is a good player in there somewhere and Big Sam may switch him to right-back as he has excelled in that role for Arsenal in the past.
Indeed, Gareth Southgate called him up to the England squad following a string of impressive performances at full-back.
Freshening things up could breathe new life into a team that now has a solid foundation at the back.
Crystal Palace are not the most adventurous team – like Newcastle – and if we can show more attacking authority through Diangana and Snodgrass we should get back to winning ways.
In other West Brom news, Kevin Phillips thinks Albion should extend the contract of a senior player whose contract is up this summer.
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