Good chance to cement our position in the league.
3 points on offer and with the boost of the cup win we should win this one.

There are a few team selection quandaries for Bruno this week. Who will replace Saiss? I thought Marcal was poor there and got hooked at half time. Dendoncker was better, but is still out of position and we lose our main midfield cover.

Fabio Silva has been excellent in his last few appearances. I'd be tempted to go with Fabio, Jimenez and Podence as a fluid front three this game. Suspect we will see one of Trincao or Traore starting though.

I’d be very surprised if Marcal got the gig as the Saiss replacement against Southampton. He was actually quite good on the ball on Sunday but he looked completely at sea in the defensive set up and continually lost his man. Although I haven’t really been impressed with Dendoncker in defence previously, we looked better organised with him there in the second half and he looks the safer option. I do also think he’s become something of a ‘nothing’ midfield player, and like Saiss, defence could be his position in the long term. Whether that’s with Wolves, time will tell.

Would like to see both Fabio and Jimenez in the team but not sure it would work in a three. Both are very much centre forwards and whoever was given a wider role would likely be wasted. Maybe as a two with Podence behind them could work

I'm not really sure how that's different to them being in a three to be honest.

Silva does add another possibility to our formation, he seems to have gained a yard of pace, looks stronger. but his link up play and positioning is excellent. Definitely something to work with.

Personally I would stick with the tried and trusted, Traore for Trincao. The only real dilemma is who covers for Saiss, I would probably play Dendonker, I would love to think Sanderson could slot in, but like Silva still a young raw talent, so still learning.

comment by Amigawolf no longer MIA (U18508)
posted 48 minutes ago
Silva does add another possibility to our formation, he seems to have gained a yard of pace, looks stronger. but his link up play and positioning is excellent. Definitely something to work with.

Personally I would stick with the tried and trusted, Traore for Trincao. The only real dilemma is who covers for Saiss, I would probably play Dendonker, I would love to think Sanderson could slot in, but like Silva still a young raw talent, so still learning.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Time for Sanderson to be given a chance to step up. He's not a young raw talent like Silva, he's 22 years old and an established centre back at Championship level. He should have started against Sheffield so that Bruno could assess him over 90 minutes before making the decision as to whether he's ready for the prem. I doubt very much that Bruno will give a start against Saints and he will choose Dendoncker instead which is frankly ridiculous.
By the way, Marcel was withdrawn at half time due to an injury.

Unlike Marcal to be injured.

22 is certainly young, and the Championship is very different to the Prem. As the game against Sheffield proved.

I wouldn't mind if Bruno gave Sanderson a go, as long as fans accept he will make mistakes.

When I saw Sanderson play for Blues I wasn't overly impressed to be honest. He was a bit naive at times with his defending and his distribution wasn't the best. Obviously that is only one game, but he wasn't someone who stood out at that level. I'd imagine he is only here as cover for the short term and given he didn't play at all yesterday, will be sent back on loan without playing at the end of the month.

I talked to a Blues fan who was raving about him. But I'm with you Tam, his best is yet to come. To throw him in now would be fraught with danger.

I think as you say he was bought back as cover, and see how well he trains with the first team. I can see him going out on loan again too.

As he didn’t get a game against Sheffield I’m sure Sanderson won’t play on Saturday. But I don’t think it should mean him and Giles will go back on loan at the end of the month. We need a larger squad rather than relying on academy kids to fill the empty seats on the bench. We will always have a small squad if everyone who isn’t a first choice is seen as having no role to play.

Sanderson is only here to cover the Saiss absence.

If Sanderson is here to cover Saiss when he’s not here then be good to have him here for cover when he is here. Otherwise we could be left with Dendoncker being our main cover for Neves, Moutinho, Kilman and Saiss. That’s the definition of what it means to have too small a squad

Dendonker has played as a CB for Belgium and Anderlecht.

His Transfermarkt valuation is £27 mill

I can understand Lage not wanting to take any risks yesterday and going with experienced players that know his system and whats required of them. I guess there's a chance that Sanderson could play against Southampton if he convinces the manger that he's ready but strongly suspect the back three will be the one that finished the last game.

It would be an interesting experiment to see if Silva and Jimenez can play up top together but would probably only work in a 442, If they were in a front three I think Fabio would be wasted out wide, a front two with one behind them might work but we'd lack width as the WBs would most likely get pressed and would need to work really hard to cover the flanks.

comment by Spangles (U17289)
posted 30 minutes ago
If Sanderson is here to cover Saiss when he’s not here then be good to have him here for cover when he is here. Otherwise we could be left with Dendoncker being our main cover for Neves, Moutinho, Kilman and Saiss. That’s the definition of what it means to have too small a squad
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd prefer us to bring in a quality first team addition in defence during the window and send Sanderson back out on loan. If the rumours are correct, that is what we have been looking to do.

If it is a front three then it will be Trincao and not Traore given we will be forcing the play.

As for Sanderson, he won't start any games unless we have more injuries and will probably go on loan again assuming we bring in a defender.

If we make a new signing or two then that changes things but from past experience I’d rather consider new signings when they’ve happened rather than when they’re talked about

I think he will go out on loan again if we don't sign anyone. Whether people like that or not is a different discussion.

And if he doesn't it is just another silly situation we have created by failing to build a squad.

Proper 6 pointer this one

1-1 Draw

Just for the record, Manchester City only registered 19 over 21 players in their squad for this season and that included 6 HGP. Arsenal, Aston Villa and Brighton registered the same as us, which was 21. Others, Norwich (18) and Leeds (17) less. So I get tired of reading how small a squad we have, day after day.

We have 5 players out injured, only Chelsea have more with 6.

As for Sanderson. If he's back with us as cover, then unless we get injuries, he goes back out on loan again when Saiss returns. Giles is back too and neither he or Sanderson got game time against Sheffield United.

I've never bee a fan of the loan system, primarily because, they very rarely come back to get into the first team. They go out on loan to gain so called experience and even though they may get rave reviews, how many have actually returned to us and claimed a first team spot?

Mir is a classic example. Stays out on loan and then we sell for a profit. The same will probably apply to all those out on loan right now. Remember Bolla? We bought him for 1.8m and sent him to Grasshoppers straight away. Over 21 so we can't get him back until next season.

Hopefully our walking wounded will be back before too long, which should appease some on here, or not.

Watched a bit of ACON today where the crowds make Albion look popular. Large stadiums with two tiers empty and the bottom tier socially distanced. General standard of football from what I’ve seen isn’t great. Senegal were expected to thrash Zimbabwe and beat then with a 97th minute penalty from Sadio Mane. Morocco beat Ghana with an 83rd minute winner and had Saiss playing as a right sided centre back in a back 4