The Hawthorns prepares for a festival of mid-table grit

The League Cup. The tournament that everyone pretends to care about until they lose in the second round and suddenly it becomes a "distraction from the league." We head to the West Midlands, where West Bromwich Albion welcome Millwall in a clash that promises all the technical finesse of a tractor pull.

West Brom, under Carlos Corberán, are currently playing a brand of football that is almost—dare we say it—coherent. They are hovering in the Championship play-off conversation, but this is the cup. Expect Corberán to rotate his squad so heavily that the kit man might find himself listed as a substitute. The Baggies have a historical fondness for this competition, mostly because it is the only time they get to see a Premier League side without having to endure a 9-0 thrashing in the actual top flight.

Then we have Millwall. The Lions. The team whose anthem is literally a shrug of the shoulders at social isolation. They are the ultimate "I’d rather be at the dentist" opponent. If you like 4-4-2, headers that sound like thunderclaps, and a midfield that treats the ball like an unexploded pipe bomb, Millwall are your team. They have been characteristically stubborn in the league, and they thrive in the cup because they genuinely enjoy ruining everyone else’s Tuesday evening.

This won't be a tactical masterclass. It will be a war of attrition. Millwall will sit deep and try to bore the Hawthorns faithful into a collective nap, while West Brom will try to pass the ball around them until someone inevitably trips over the touchline. The key will be whether the Baggies' fringe players can handle the PURE PHYSICALITY of a Millwall side that views a yellow card as a badge of honor.

It has the smell of a stalemate that eventually gets decided by a deflected cross hitting a defender’s backside in the 89th minute.

Prediction: West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Millwall