West Bromwich Albion will be relieved to return to home soil as they take on Wigan Athletic in the Championship on Tuesday evening. Albion’s woeful away form continued on Friday as they were well beaten by Hull City, with a powerful strike from Benjamin Tetteh and a Dara O’Shea own goal sealing a 2-0 defeat.
Last week’s disappointment made it four away losses in a row for The Baggies, who are slipping away from the play-off spots. Fortunes have been far greater at The Hawthorns, however, with seven wins in West Brom’s last eight home matches and just one goal conceded in that period.
Carlos Corberan will be eager to close the gap to the top six with two home matches in a row against relegation-threatened opposition. First up is of course Wigan, who are 23rd in the league standings. There has been somewhat of an improvement under new head coach Shaun Maloney, with seven points out of a possible 18, but they are six points from safety as it stands.
The Latics do have a game in hand, however, and they’ll no doubt be looking at West Brom’s recent struggles with optimism. Wigan will also take confidence from The Baggies’ injury concerns, with nine players expected to miss the game. With that in mind, we think Corberan will take the clash very seriously, naming a strong side. Here is our predicted Albion XI.
1. West Brom predicted XI vs Wigan Athletic
Here are the 11 players we think Carlos Corberan will field against Wigan on Tuesday.
2. GK: Josh Griffiths
Did well to make some big saves despite defeat at Hull last Friday. Stays in the team ahead of David Button throughout Alex Palmer’s injury absence.
3. RB: Taylor Gardner-Hickman
Has lacked minutes under Corberan but has done well at right-back when called upon. Furlong’s poor showing at Hull could provide a route into the starting XI.
4. CB: Dara O’Shea
Really struggled and scored an own goal at the MKM Stadium but has been one of The Baggies’ best players this campaign. The skipper stays in, no doubt.