Five West Brom posers for Slaven Bilic ahead of the restart

It has been three months since Slaven Bilic’s side were last in action – when the Baggies were held to a goalless draw at Swansea on March 7.

With so much time having past, it is hard to know exactly how the Croatian boss will line-up his side this weekend.

At the time or writing It appears Bilic has a fully-fit squad available, giving him a number of tactical options.

Here Joseph Masi looks at five big calls the 51-year-old has to make.

1. 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1?

For the first four months of the season, the Baggies were sensational in a 4-2-3-1 system.

But by December it looked like opposition teams had sussed them out – prompting a switch to 4-3-3.

The tactical change allowed Filip Krovinovic to flourish in central midfield.

And in an interview during lockdown, Bilic said he believed the system made his team more defensively solid while maintaining their attacking threat.

Since Albion’s last outing, though, Grady Diangana has returned to fitness.

The 22-year-old has been deployed on the left for Albion. But he can also play on the right, and has done for parent club West Ham.

An attacking trio of Diangana, Matheus Pereira, and Callum Robinson looks incredible on paper.

If he reverts back to 4-2-3-1 however, Krovinovic is likely to miss out.

It’s an incredibly tough call for the boss to make.

2. Grady Diangana or Callum Robinson?

Let’s say Bilic sticks with the solidity that comes with his 4-3-3 formation.

How he is going to decide who starts on the left-wing – with Pereira as good as certain to start on the right.

Diangana was absolutely outstanding before injuring his hamstring against Blues in December.

And his subsequent absence from the team coincided with Albion’s slump in form. He was visibly missed.

But Robinson came in and lifted the Baggies from their slumber.

He settled immediately with his goals and assists making him just as dangerous on the left.

The reality is both players boast Premier League quality.

Tactically, Diangana is better going down the line while Robinson is excellent at cutting inside and linking play.

It’s another incredibly tough decision – and that’s not taking into account Kamil Grosicki, another excellent left-winger.

3. Ahmed Hegazi or Kyle Bartley

With Hegazi injured at the start of the campaign, Bartley shone at the heart of the defence alongside Semi Ajayi.

The former Leeds man’s form did wobble in February. And that opened the door for Hegazi to return with the Egyptian going on to show his class before picking up another knock.

Now both are fit and battling to start alongside Ajayi. The Nigerian international has to play with his pace allowing the Baggies to play with a high defensive line.

But Hegazi and Bartley are both excellent, no-nonsense Championship defenders. It will be tough for whoever has to miss out.

4. Conor Townsend or Kieran Gibbs

It tells you just how far Townsend has come that nobody will be overly surprised if he starts ahead of Gibbs on Saturday.

Former England international Gibbs is widely seen as one of the best left-backs in the division. But he has been blighted by injury all year.

And in his absence, Townsend has gone from strength-to-strength.

Solid defensively, the former Hull man links up excellently with Robinson.

He also has a wand of a left foot and will rightly feel he has done enough to keep his place.

5. The central striker

Hal Robson-Kanu has been outstanding throughout the 2019/20 campaign.

His link-up play makes Albion a better side and you’d expect he’ll get the nod to lead the line on Saturday.

But we all know Charlie Austin is a goalscorer. And then you have Robinson.

Playing him up front would allow Diangana, Robinson and Pereira to all be on the pitch together.

It would also allow Bilic to stick with a midfield three of Krovinovic, Romaine Sawyers and Jake Livermore.

It’s certainly an exciting option.