Stranded at the bottom of the points table, finding it tough to get anywhere near safety, Alan Pardew’s West Brom look destined to face the drop this season. With no win in their last six league games, they are seven points off safety and will need to start picking up some points to have a chance of avoiding relegation this season.
They are fresh from a 1-0 loss to Watford and have a tricky test against Leicester City coming up, who travel to Hawthorns this weekend. The Foxes, fresh from back to back draws against Stoke City and Bournemouth are currently in the 8th place and have been hard to beat this season. But West Brom will have to go for the kill and here is the predicted lineup Pardew might field for this tie:
In early team news, West Brom are still without the services of James Morrison, Nacer Chadli, Daniel Sturridge and Hal Robson-Kanu, all of who are ruled out for this weekend. Gareth Barry picked up a knock recently and is doubtful for this game and remains the only other issue for Pardew ahead of this tie.
Defence
Ben Foster remains the first choice GK for Pardew at the moment and he should start this game under the bar this weekend. The manager has also used a fixed backline with Ahmed Hagazy and Jonny Evans starting as the CB pairing. They have not been at their best recently and will have a tough time against Jamie Vardy in this tie.
Kieran Gibbs remains their best option at left-back while Craig Dawson should keep his place in the side at right-back against the Foxes.
Midfield
With Gareth Barry not available, West Brom might stick with Grzegorz Krychowiak and Jake Livermore as their midfield pairing in this tie. Both players have enough experience to keep the Foxes’ midfield frustrate for most of this game.
Chris Brunt did not have the best games against Watford and could be replaced by James McClean on the left flank while Matt Phillips is expected to keep his place on the right side of the midfield.
Attack
West Brom need to outscore Leicester and will have to start with an attacking unit. Solomon Rondon remains an important part of their attack and should start alongside Jay Rodriguez, who has shown glimpses of form in recent games.
Here is how they might line up:
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