Leeds United and West Brom have been locked in a Championship title race since the start of the season, but the Baggies have often had the advantage in this battle.
One would be forgiven for thinking it should be the other way around though – Leeds top the xG table by some way, and they’ve taken four points off the Midlands club this term.
However, as it stands, Slaven Bilic’s men are top of the table, and the recent dilemma presented to the Croatian shows why they have the edge over the Yorkshire club.
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West Brom lost Romaine Sawyers to suspension after he was sent off against Bristol City, and the manager chose Rekeem Harper to replace him on Tuesday night.
Sawyers is undoubtedly one of the Baggies’ most important players, and he was once touted by Darren Bent as a Championship player of Premier League quality, just behind Leeds’ Kalvin Phillips.
Phillips and Sawyers are vital cogs in each of their manager’s plans, but Bilic has the ability to manage so much better without his star than Bielsa does without the Yorkshire Pirlo.
Look at last Saturday – Phillips came off injured and it led to four changes as Ezgjan Alioski came on while Stuart Dallas, Luke Ayling and Ben White changed position.
With Sawyers out, the Baggies had the option to either call upon an experienced former Premier League winner in Gareth Barry or a highly-rated teenager, who their promotion rivals actually wanted to loan last month (The Sun on Sunday 19/2/20).
In the end, Bilic opted for youth over experience, but the existence of the dilemma serves to highlight the gap between West Brom and their rivals – especially when it comes to squad depth.
In other news, this transfer clause may explain why Bielsa hasn’t wanted to drop Casilla.