Does Carlos Baleba make an immediate return to the Albion XI after AFCON?
That appears to be one of the big questions as fans wonder what side Fabian Hurzeler will send out at home to Bournemouth.
Baleba is back from what was a good tournament for him in Morocco and is said to be in good form and spirits after his efforts with Cameroon.
But he has also been told there is major competition for midfield places.
Hurzeler made ten changes to his starting XI at Old Trafford.
Yes, officially it was six changes for the FA Cup third-round tie with Manchester United.
But that does not take into account that four of the survivors from the XI at Manchester City four nights earlier had changes of position.
Mats Wieffer remains absent for the return to league fixtures tonight.
Hurzeler also mentioned illness in the camp as he held his press conference on Friday morning – almost four days ahead of the game.
He sounded hopeful this would have all cleared by match night and we know there can be injuries which emerge at teamsheet time.
But, on what we know, there appear to be some very likely returnees to the XI.
Bart Verbruggen, Lewis Dunk and Jan Paul van Hecke will all be expected to return despite excellent displays by those who started at Old Trafford.
Kaoru Mitoma’s 100th Prem appearance is likely to be as a starter.
While Yankuba Minteh is “an option” after a thigh injury, that option might not be used in the XI.
Hurzeler likes what Diego Gomez offers and he could get that half-and-half role to the right of centre this time.
Whether that works as well on the right as it does on the left, when it creates room outside him to be exploited by Ferdi Kadioglu, is open to debate.
As is often the case for an Albion side who have the best goal difference in the Prem in the final half-hour of games, substitutions could well be important.
Possible starting XI: Verbruggen; Veltman, van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu; Hinshelwood, Gross; Gomez, Rutter, Mitoma; Welbeck.
