da dobrowin： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
da bet sport： West Bromwich Albion are flying high in the Championship this season as they look like one of the firm favourites for automatic promotion.
The Baggies have lost just once all season, to Leeds United, who they still remain in front of. It seems like no one can stop them under the stewardship of Slaven Bilic.
They have been rather fortunate with injuries so far this campaign too. None of their lethal frontline of Matheus Pereira, Grady Diangana or Matty Phillips have faced an extended period on the sidelines as they have all featured in 18 of their 20 league outings.
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It’s the same in defence where the trio of Sam Johnstone, Kyle Bartley and Semi Ajayi have started every match.
However, left-back Kieran Gibbs has had his fair share of troubles with him pulling up last time out. His frustrations were clear to see as he slapped the turf in anger soon after going down unchallenged.
The £5.4m-rated (Transfermarkt) ace has only managed to play eight times at an average of 72 minutes per game, which just isn’t good enough for a player that is the fourth-highest paid in the squad at £20k-per-week.
Gibbs isn’t getting any younger at 30 years of age, and these persistent injury problems hardly help his cause going forward.
Albion are currently stacked in the full-back position with Conor Townsend and Nathan Ferguson being able to play on the left-hand side, even if the latter leaves, Bilic could dip into the academy once again or look to pull off another masterstroke in the transfer market.
The former Arsenal man isn’t an indispensable member of the squad, and that must be considered if he’s not playing enough to warrant such wages.
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In other news, West Brom’s win over Swansea City last weekend showed why history will not be repeating itself at the Hawthorns.