West Bromwich Albion will be hoping to hand their slim hopes of Premier League survival a boost this weekend.
It perhaps tells you all you need to know about Alan Pardew’s West Brom tenure that after providing the assist for the Baggies’ sole goal in the 4-1 defeat to Leicester with a brilliant cross for Salomon Rondon, Oliver Burke was dropped to the bench for the trip to Bournemouth and did not get on the field during the loss.
Pardew may argue that he needed Allan Nyom to play due to the change of shape that he deployed at the Vitality Stadium, but Nyom’s delivery in the final third was underwhelming, and West Brom are now at the stage where they need to take some risks to try and get themselves out of their current mess.
Therefore, perhaps – and it is a big perhaps – Pardew may recall Burke to the side for the game against Burnley at The Hawthorns on Saturday to try and give the team a bit more creativity and unpredictability going forward.
The £15 million summer signing – fee reported by the Guardian – has made just two starts in the top flight this term, while he has made a further 11 appearances from the bench. And yet, he has still provided two assists. Incredibly, only Chris Brunt has more in the league this season.
That may be the only change Pardew considers making. However, Matt Phillips may feel that he has staked a potential claim after putting his disappointing club form behind him to score Scotland’s winner in their friendly against Hungary.
Meanwhile, there should be calls for the likes of Grzegorz Krychowiak and Sam Field to get a chance. But it would be little surprise if Pardew decided against recalling either to the starting lineup.
With that in mind, here is the predicted lineup in full…
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