Albion line-up leak led to Saido Berahino start

West Brom started striker Saido Berahino on Saturday because their initial line-up was leaked to Everton, the Express and Star can reveal today.

The Baggies travelled north a day early and trained at one of Liverpool's training grounds on Friday

Someone watching that final training session relayed information about it to the Toffees.

Often, teams will play their starting XI for the next day against the rest of the squad.

Pulis found out about the leak and made three late changes to his line-up on Saturday morning before the team was officially announced to the players.

One of them included giving Berahino his first Premier League start since October.

The Baggies boss was asked in his pre-match press conference on Friday morning if the 22-year-old was going to start.

He said then: "No, he's nowhere near the level I'd want him to be and nowhere near the level he would want to be."

After the game, Pulis was asked what convinced him to change his mind on Berahino, but kept quiet on the leak.

He said: "We need to get him fit. The only way he's going to get fit is playing games and that's the most important thing.

"If we can get a fit Saido playing with Salomon (Rondon) then I think we'll score goals and we've missed that."

But Berahino could be facing an FA ban, after kicking out at Everton midfielder James McCarthy off the ball in the first-half.

Toffees boss Roberto Martinez said: "I actually saw it clearly, because the play was stopped and I happened to be looking straight at it.

"The ball was stopped and Berahino just stamps on James McCarthy. I don't know what happened. I thought the referee was in a good position and should've seen that.

"It's one of those reactions that is a naive one and it should've been a red card."

The FA will wait until they receive the report of the referee and fourth official before deciding whether to charge the 22-year-old.

Fans reacted positively to the attacking line-up Pulis picked and the Baggies proved their ability to adapt with a superb defensive team performance that captured their first win in six league games.

Everton had 34 shots, the most of any Premier League team in a game this season, and Albion only had 24 per cent possession.

Pulis said: "You've got to remember the team at the top of the league has the least possession this year, We played Wednesday night, as well, and it was such a quick turnaround."