Steve Bruce is only going to make one key change to his West Brom team from the opening day draw for the visit of Watford in the Championship on Monday (8 August). This early in the season the Baggies boss won’t want to rock the boat too hard by chopping and changing his line-up. And after a creditable point away at Chris Wilder’s side, who finished one place outside of the playoffs last season, there is little reason to pull players out of the starting XI.
Grant, 24, should be on the bench, where he might be joined by Callum Robinson and returning midfielder Okay Yokuslu, but it wouldn’t be the first time that a minor knock turned out to be more significant come game day if he was missing.
Dike replaced his teammate late in the draw at the Riverside and is now finally back at the disposal of the manager who was deprived of him for the previous campaign, so the roles will likely be reversed at the Hawthorns on Monday. Jed Wallace and John Swift, the pair of marquee free transfer signings who combined for the club’s only goal of the game when the latter assisted the former, are sure to start again, with Matt Phillips reprising his role as the third attacking support player.
Captain Jake Livermore made it through 90 minutes despite only just recovering from Covid, so if he played the entire opener there is every reason to expect he stays there, with Jayson Molumby, whose loan deal was made permanent in the summer, to be alongside him again.