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.
5. CB: Erik Pieters
Pieters continues to keep Semi Ajayi out of the team as he has formed a nice bond with O’Shea in central defence. | Getty Images
6. LB: Conor Townsend
Got to be the best option at left-back and has proven himself as quite the threat in attacking positions of late. | Getty Images
7. CDM: Okay Yokuslu
Been impressive all campaign in defensive midfield and breaks up the play to allow those in more advanced positions to roam freely. | Getty Images
8. CDM: Jason Molumby
Should work well against a relegation-threatened opposition. Can get forward and cause problems for The Latics. | Getty Images