Corberan needs to unleash West Brom’s £17k-per-week “animal” against Cardiff, so move over, Mowatt…

With a commanding 2-0 victory over Ipswich Town on Saturday night, West Bromwich Albion increased their chances of making the playoffs.The Baggies have now won four of their past five games, climbing to fifth place in the standings.

Their display against the Tractor Boys, who are vying for promotion, was indicative of the team’s development under Carlos Corberan.According to Sofascore, the hosts statistically held Ipswich to zero shots on goal for the first time this season and an expected goal (xG) of 0.23 as opposed to West Brom’s 1.70.

Corberan may make some changes for their trip to fellow play-off contenders Cardiff City, who upset Preston North End last time out with goals in the 96th and 99th minutes, despite their impressive performance against elite opposition.

One man who could get dropped for this crunch fixture, purely for tactical reasons, is playmaker Alex Mowatt.

Alex’s Mowatt’s performance in numbers against Ipswich Town

Mowatt has operated as a deep-lying playmaker for Corberan, dictating play from deep through his astute passing range, and that was no different against Ipswich.He started alongside ball-winning midfielder Okay Yokuslu, who made the second-most tackles on the pitch for West Brom, while Mowatt made the most accurate passes.

The 28-year-old possesses incredible technical ability, and his confidence in possession provided a strong platform for the hosts to start brightly, taking the lead through Darnell Furlong inside six minutes.

As the table above delineates, the former Leeds United star is good at distributing the ball, short or long, while his ability to win possession back and drive forward with the ball is lacking.When entering the cauldron of the Cardiff City Stadium on Wednesday night, winning the midfield battle will be crucial to whoever comes out on top, and if Mowatt drops a similarly weak defensive display, he could hamper the Baggies’ chances of recording a positive result.That said, he could make way for all-action midfielder Jayson Molumby, who possesses the sought-after attributes to cope with the danger posed by the likes of Callum Robinson and Karlan Grant.

Jayson Molumby’s style of play

Molumby has been restricted to cameos from the bench in his last seven appearances this season, but the ball-winning midfielder, who previously compared himself to Roy Keane, can offer an abundance of attributes that give him the upper hand over Mowatt.Dubbed an “animal” by Corberan after having shown his capabilities as a pressing machine last term, the £17k per-week titan can provide the Baggies with control in midfield and the ability to carry the ball from deep.

According to FBref, Molumby has averaged more progressive carries than Mowatt this term (1.39 vs. 0.82) and touches in the attacking penalty box (1.73 vs. 1.02), underscoring his importance as a press breaker and energetic ball carrier.Despite averaging fewer tackles than Mowatt this term (1.5 vs. 0.7), this is largely down to the attacking responsibility he’s ushered, as opposed to him not being a tough tackler.If he does start against the Bluebirds, Corberan will hope Molumby can unleash an animalistic performance onto proceedings and help his side keep a stranglehold on the play-off places.