West Brom will be looking to add more pain to under fire Stoke City boss Mark Hughes when they travel to travel to the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday. More pressure was heaped on Mark Hughes’ shoulders after the 2-1 loss to Premier League newcomers Hull city in the League Cup in the midweek. Sitting at the rock bottom of the Premier League with just one point from five Premier League games, Stoke City must improve really soon or else we could see Mark Hughes losing his job.
West Brom looked like a whole new team in their 4-2 win against West Ham last weekend. Club record signing Nacer Chadli made a massive impact with a brace and also set up two assists in the game. Tony Pulis still would be under a reasonable pressure from the fans and will be looking to build on their solid win last weekend. Can the Baggies take advantage of the struggling Potters?
Here is the predicted West Brom line-up against Stoke City.
Defence
Ben Foster will definitely start under the bar ahead of Boaz Myhill. Craig Dawson will keep his place in the right-back position. West Brom are likely to stick with the centre-back pairing of Gareth McAuley and Jonny Evans. Everton loanee Brendan Galloway will keep his place in the left-back position. West Brom are solid as a defensive unit but they need to be extra careful while approaching the Potters who will be giving everything in their locker to come up with a positive result.
Midfield
Argentine defensive midfield Claudio Yacob will continue to play as the defensive midfielder. The 29-year-old is a key player at the Hawthorns with his excellent defensive ability. His job won’t be that easy against Stoke though with creative players like Allen, Arnautovic and Shaqiri. Skipper Darren Fletcher and Nacer Chadli will line up as the two box to box midfielders. James McClean and Matt Phillips should start on the two flanks. Chadli was the start performer last week against West Ham and will be looking to make a strong impact once again.
Attack
Jose Salomon Rondon grabbed a goal last weekend against West Ham to put an end to his poor run of form. The Venezuela international should beat Saido Berahino for a start up front. Rondon had a poor debut season last time out but has scored two goals this season from five games and will be looking to prove his critics wrong.
