OPINION
Darren Moore must axe Jake Livermore ahead of West Brom’s clash against Aston Villa on Saturday if he wants to name his best possible starting line-up for the short trip to Villa Park.
Livermore, 29, had a woeful game in the 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on Tuesday and Albion would have much better chance of beating Dean Smith’s side if Gareth Barry was to start instead of the ex-Hull midfielder.
With Dwight Gayle likely to be suspended, Jefferson Montero must earn his first start of the season on the left-wing, having only made substitute appearances for Swansea before joining the Baggies on loan in January.
Sam Johnstone should start in goals against his former club, with a back-four of Mason Holgate, Craig Dawson, Ahmed Hegazi and Kieran Gibbs ahead of him, if Hegazi is fit to return to action after missing the draw with Forest.
Barry has been a class act for West Brom this season and simply has to start in the midfield after failing to make the starting line-up at The Hawthorns on Tuesday.
Stefan Johansen and impressive youngster Rekeem Harper should team up with Barry in the central three.
West Brom’s attack has gone from being the best in England to being completely depleted over the last few weeks and Gayle’s imminent ban for successfully deceiving a match official against Forest is more bad news for Moore, who already has Hal Robson-Kanu and Matt Phillips injured.
Jacob Murphy and Ecuador ace Montero simply must start for West Brom on the wings with Jay Rodriguez up front, this is by far and away Albion’s best attacking force going into the Villa game unless one of the injured players can make a shock return.