West Brom player ratings v Preston as Carlos Corberan ends the year a winner
Carlos Corberan and his West Brom side welcomed Preston North End to The Hawthorns on December 29 in their last Championship clash of 2022.
Corberan and the Baggies got picked up another win on the night after two Okay Yokuslu goals, catapulting themselves further towards Play-Off contention, a nice sight for fans’ eyes.
The Baggies played with utter confidence throughout and looked in control at all times in their 2-0 win, West Brom News rated the players out of 10 below…
Alex Palmer – 6
Solid, safe and secure, it was another fairly easy night for Palmer who is looking the real deal as of late, made a great save after a horror backpass from Townsend which could have turned the game on its head.
Darnell Furlong – 8
Displayed some lovely long-range passes and was always looking to get the ball up to Thomas-Asante in the first half, Furlong looked to be in the right position at the right time, all the time, another classy display from Furlong who is starting to thrive under Corberan.
Dara O’Shea – 7
Yet again O’Shea looked the far more cool and comfortable man out of the centre-half duos, he seems to be making Pieters look better than he is at the moment, an Albion defence without O’Shea would just seem strange now.
Erik Pieters – 5
Again looked sketchy at times, nearly making a few costly errors in the first half and was fortunate to come out of it unscathed, his position in Corberan’s starting XI has to be coming under threat in the new year.
Conor Townsend – 4
Made a terrible pass back which nearly gave Preston a leveller before the break, fortunately, Palmer was there to save the day and Townsend from a red face, played slightly better in the second half but needs to give more to be considered as a go-to option moving forward, he’s starting to look like a weak link in this classy Baggies side.
Okay Yokuslu – 10
Silky feet and a splendid screamer from 30 yards out gave the Baggies an opener and then the Turk grabbed his second of the night with a delicate finish after some superb play from Swift, a clear man of the match.
Jayson Molumby – 8
The man covered every blade of grass on the pitch and made some beautiful crunching tackles, who doesn’t love a Molumby tackle? Preston North End will be having nightmares about Molumby tonight.
Tom Rogic – 7
Picked up from where he left off against Bristol City in the first half against Preston and was constantly looking to drive the ball forward for the Baggies, was replaced early in the second half by Swift but put in a decent shift.
Jed Wallace – 8
Wallace did the cheekiest of nutmegs in the first half nearly scoring one of the Albion’s goals of the season, another superb outing from the Englishman, he’s been arguably the Baggies’ best player so far this season and seems to be getting better with every game, long may it continue.
Brandon Thomas-Asante – 7
The Preston North End defence couldn’t handle Thomas-Asante as soon as the first whistle was blown, did everything but score and constantly got himself in the right positions, could have nabbed a few if it wasn’t for a brilliant Preston goalkeeping performance.
Grady Diangana – 6
Diagana was relentless in the first half and played some clever little intricate passes with Rogic, looked like a constant threat in the first 45, however, slowed down a bit in the second half, all in all, a solid return to the starting XI for Grady.
John Swift (on for Rogic, 54′) – 7
Daryl Dike (on for Thomas-Asante, 62′) – 6
Adam Reach (on for Diagana, 62′) – 5
Taylor Gardner-Hickman (on for Molumby 76′) – 5
Karlan Grant (on for Wallace 76′) – 5