West Brom: Carlos Corberan must take Josh Maja gamble amid injury update
West Brom boss Carlos Corberan might be forced to throw Josh Maja back in at the deep end after Brandon Thomas-Asante was sent off against Sunderland.
The Baggies’ unbeaten run came to an end as they lost 1-0 at The Hawthorns against Sunderland on Saturday (13 April).
It is the first time West Brom have been beaten in 11 matches, with Pierre Ekwah scoring the decisive goal in first-half stoppage time, minutes after the hosts had been reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Thomas-Asante for a second bookable offence.
It was a miserable afternoon for Thomas-Asante who completed just 40 per cent of his passes, won just one of his five ground duels, lost both of his aerial duels and committed four fouls across his 43 minutes on the pitch (Sofascore).
And the West Brom top scorer couldn’t have picked a worse match to be sent off in, with the striker now set to be suspended for his side’s visit to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City on Saturday (20 April).
This leaves Corberan with a puzzle to solve up front, and the West Brom boss might be forced to turn to Maja to solve that puzzle.
West Brom striker Josh Maja could be handed an opportunity in Brandon Thomas-Asante’s absence
Since arriving at The Hawthorns from Ligue 1 outfit Bordeaux last summer, Maja has only managed 10 Championship appearances due to injury struggles, scoring one goal.
He spent more than four months on the treatment table before returning off the bench in a 2-0 home win against Rotherham (10 April) where he wasn’t able to make much of an impact, registering just two touches of the ball while completing 50 per cent of his passes.
Maja was absent from the squad against his former side Sunderland, instead playing just over an hour for the club’s Under-21s in their 2-0 defeat against Manchester City Under-21s on Friday (12 April).
Corberan may have wanted to ease Maja back into the thick of things, but Thomas-Asante’s suspension might force the West Brom boss to rethink those plans.
This could be the perfect opportunity for Maja to finally prove to West Brom supporters why he was signed, although he has some very big boots to fill in the absence of Thomas-Asante, who has found the back of the net 12 times for West Brom this season.
As per fbref, Thomas-Asante also ranks among the top nine per cent of his positional peers in the Championship this season for the number of take-ons he has completed (1.27 per 90) and the top 14 per cent for his successful take-on percentage (52.1 per cent per 90).
However, he won’t be on hand to find the back of the net against the Foxes, and that daunting task might well be handed to Maja by Corberan.
In other West Brom news, Shilen Patel took to social media to have his say on the Baggies’ defeat against Sunderland.
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