Stoke take on Middlesbrough in a game that could show us how the rest of the season could pan out
Stoke’s next three fixtures could decide what division we could be competing in next season. Prior to the lockdown, we could of looked at these 3 games as 7 points in the bag. That has all changed especially as Saturday’s opponents Middlesbrough have sacked Jonathan Woodgate . The appointment of Warnock, a manager I’m sure Stoke have failed to register a win against has made this fixture a lot harder than it was.
Middlesbrough do have issues to get around, Mainly getting 6 first team players to sign a new contract to allow them to play past the Stoke game. If they can’t then that alone could resign them to a very hard last 7 fixtures with Ex Stoke player Ryan Shotton being one of the 6 including Jonny Howson, George Friend, Adam Clayton, Rudy Gestede and Marvin Johnson needing to sign that extension.
Back to the game.
Saturday’s fixture will be the 98th meeting of the two sides with Middlesbrough coming out on top.
97 games played
Won 35 Lost 40 Drew 22
Last 10 meetings
Lost 5
Won 3 Drew 2
Stoke have lost the last two meetings, the Corresponding fixture this season Stoke lost 2-1, Clucas scored stoke goals.
Form
Middlesbrough are lacking any kind of form, only winning 1 of their last 14 fixtures, in contrast to Stoke who have won 6 of their last 14
Lewis Wing has had a half decent season despite his clubs failings scoring 7 goals from midfield. Ashley Fletcher is the clubs top scorer this season with 8 goals
What does everyone expect from the game versus Middlesbrough.
Stoke are starting to look like they are gaining a backbone under Michael O’Neill, with Monday nights victory over WBA, it was reminiscent of a good old Pulis game. Every man put them self on the line to make sure Stoke won, their was no passengers, long may that continue.
History versus Swansea
There have been 73 previous games between the two sides with Stoke just coming out on top with 29 wins to Swansea’s 23.
Over the last 10 games it more one way traffic with Stoke winning 6 of those ten games. The last fixture was a back in October when Stoke came out 2-1 winners, Scott Hogan scores a 90th minute goal to give Stoke our first league win of the season.
League Form
STOKE
West Brom 0-1 Stoke
Stoke 0-0 Millwall
Huddersfield 2-5 Stoke
SWANSEA
Swansea 2-1 Wigan
Cardiff 0-0 Swansea
QPR 5-1 Swansea
Swansea sit just outside the play off spots in 7th place, they are 17 points above Stoke.
Players to watch
Steve Copper has got his Swansea side plying some good football at times with André Ayew standing out with his 10 goals & 4 assists. Matt Grimes has been a steadying figure in midfield who’s consistent performances have game Swansea a base to play.
Can Stoke do the double over Swansea again, just like our last season in the Premier League. That year both encounters ended 2-1 to Stoke, is it worth a bet?
Well that saying has certainly not been sung for a while now, Stoke used to have a record against the baggies that was bordering on embarrassing for the West Brom fan.
Stoke are hoping to start a new unbeaten run against the Baggies on Monday night against one of the best sides in the league.
Stoke haven’t faced many sides more than West Brom in our history with Monday nights game being the 148th fixture. Stoke have won a good proportion of those games to, in fact Stoke have won 61 to West Brom’s 49.
Stoke had an unreal run of results versus West Brom during the 90’s which lasted till 2014, during that period Stoke only lost 3 of the 35 games played, how we wish that was still the case now.
Since 2014, results have been the polar opposite with Stoke winning just 1 of the 10 fixtures.
Stoke last win versus the Baggies was the 3-1 Boxing Day win back in 2017, a game up until Michael O’Neill became manager was the last time we scored 3 goals in any league game.
League Form
STOKE
Stoke 0-0 Millwall
Huddersfield 2-5 Stoke
Fulham 1-0 Stoke
WEST BROM
Charlton 2-2 WBA
WBA 1-1 Leeds
WBA 0-2 Middlesbrough
West Brom are currently having a little blip in form which I hope lasts for at least 1 game more. The blip is small though, WBA are not top of the league for no reason & Stoke are going to find it very hard to get anything out of the game. Putting a bit of perspective on it show West Brom having won double the amount of league games than Stoke scoring 17 more goals in the process.
Players to watch out for
West Brom have a very strong squad and unlike last season where they relied on two players to get them wins, they are more of an all round team that’s strong all over the pitch. This is shown by the fact that 3 players are joint top scorer with Charlie Austin, Hal Robson-Kanu & Matt Phillips all on 7 League goals this season. Matheus Pereira and Grady Diangana are wading in with goals too, but they have been creating the chances. Pereira has 10 assists, he’s one we must mark out the game. West Brom’s best player though is a player Stoke turned down the chance to sign due to Mark Hughes not knowing who he was so was not inclined to take up the offer. That player was Romain Sawyers, Sawyers is everything that Stoke miss in midfield. He has pace, he’s athletic, he can pass the ball with the best of them, he also orchestrates the whole WBA side. He’s a true focal point of the side, the fulcrum of the side.
This game has some added spice for Stoke fans, not just Cockney Ted, but all of us since the appointment of Gary Rowett as Millwall manager.
It doesn’t surprise me that Rowett has got Millwall firing, what does surprise me is the way he’s gone about it. Obviously Gary Rowett has used the mistakes he made at Stoke and learnt from them.
History against Millwall
Stoke versus Millwall has been played out 52 times with Stoke winning 22of those game losing 17
Last 10
Stoke have won 6 of the last 10 fixtures between the two sides, with Millwall only winning once, unfortunately that loss was the last game back in October when Millwall won 2-0.
League Form
Stoke
Huddersfield 2-5 Stoke
Fulham 1-0 Stoke
Stoke 3-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Millwall
Millwall 3-1 Luton
Millwall 1-0 Brentford
Cardiff 1-1 Millwall
It’s safe to say Gary Rowett has Got Millwall playing well, they currently are on form but so are Stoke. Millwall have taken 13 points from their last 6 games which is 3 more than Stoke.
League position
Millwall’s good form has managed to make them a serious contender for a play off spot, something us Stoke fans can only dream of at this time. Millwall are currently 7th in the league on 40 points which is 16 more than Stoke.
Players to watch
Millwall don’t have many players that their names trip of the tongue, Jed Wallace is one player that would be known to most Stoke fans, he’s Millwall’s current top scorer with 9 league goals. Jed has also assisted 7 goals this season so it’s imperative that Stoke try and keep Wallace quiet if we are to beat Millwall.
We could of hoped that some of the players at Stoke who’d had played under Rowett might give the squad some insight into how Millwall may play, but it’s likely only two of those brought in by Rowett will actually play. Even then Gary Rowett has Millwall playing differently than he set Stoke up, infact he has them playing a style that would of suited Stoke better with the players we had than how he had us playing, especially Benik Afobe.
Can Stoke get one over our old boss or will Rowett show that we should of gave him more time
Match Preview for New Year’s Day game versus Huddersfield
Wednesdays game will be the 76th meeting between the two sides.
Stoke Wins28
Huddersfield Wins22
Last 10 meetings
Wins3
Draws3
Losses4
Form going into match
Stoke
Fulham 1-0 Stoke
Stoke 3-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Middlesbrough 2-1 Stoke
Huddersfield
Huddersfield 2-1 Blackburn
Middlesbrough 1-0 Huddersfield
Huddersfield 2-1 Forest
Players to watch out for
Karlan Grant is Huddersfield’s main goal threat who has managed 12 goals this season. In the first meeting between the sides this season Grant was put out wide as we had CCV and Clucas playing on the right and he thought he would get more joy out their against them. This didn’t really happen and Huddersfield only won the game because Stoke couldn’t hit the target with any of their 18 shots but Huddersfield did find it with one of their 4.
Huddersfield currently sit in 20th place in the league on 28 points, despite only being in the place above Stoke in the league they are 7 points ahead so losing this game is a bit of a no no.
The second half performance versus a very good Fulham side gives me some confidence that we could, if we perform like that, get something out of this game
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