Opposition Preview - Stoke City (Away)

Blog written by ad_wilkin
Published: 31st December 2023 15:01

It’s not quite a Tuesday night at Stoke but Town begin the new year with a Monday afternoon kick-off up north.

Last year went better than anyone could have dreamed with automatic promotion secured from League one and Town now coming into this one sat second in the Championship with back-to-back promotions a possibility.

With injuries and illness hitting against QPR, this will be a tough battle despite Stoke’s lowly league position.

<h1>Previous Game</h1>

Stoke were the first team to visit a packed-out Portman Road at the beginning of the season following a battling away win against Sunderland and they had spells in the game, most notably just before half-time and then immediately after the restart. The catalyst of which was the substitution of Chiquinho for Wesley Moraes, which gave them a focal point in attack.

The Potters ended up with 56% of possession but Town created far better chances having a total of 22 shots (10 on target) to Stoke's nine (two on target).

The Blues opened the scoring in the 23rd minute as Luke Woolfenden rose like a salmon to head home a deep Sam Morsy free-kick in what I believe has been the only headed set-piece goal so far this season. Set pieces were Town’s bread and butter last season but they have definitely found them a lot harder to score from in the Championship.

In recent games, Cameron Burgess has got on the end of a few great deliveries from Leif Davis but failed to find the target. Town kept up the momentum and could have scored more were it not for Stoke keeper Mark Travers, who made excellent saves from Wes Burns, George Hirst and Conor Chaplin and perhaps saved the best until last denying Omari Hutchinson late on.

Vaclav Hladky was called upon a couple of times when Stoke did break through the backline and was quick off his line twice to deny good opportunities.

It was then his bravery playing out from the back that led to the second goal with sub Marcus Harness also playing a big part with an excellent turn in a tight area from a Burgess pass to set Chaplin free.

Chaplin could have slid Kayden Jackson in but instead opted to go to his right where Burns was making a run. Burns then took his time on the ball to allowed Jackson to get into space and threaded a superb pass for the sub to tap into an empty net and secure a first Championship win of the season at Portman Road.

<h1>What's Changed?</h1>

In short, quite a lot. There’s been more new signings, loan recalls and a new manager in the dugout since these sides last played each other and the Stoke team could look very different.

Let's start with the manager. With Stoke drifting perilously close to the relegation zone it was seen as time for a change and former Norwich manager Alex Neil was dispatched after just over a year in charge, ending with a win percentage of 33%.

In perhaps a surprise move, Steven Schumacher has made the journey north leaving a Plymouth side who sit two places and one point above his new charges.

Schumacher’s reign is only three games in and he has so far overseen a draw against Millwall, a 3-1 win against the plummeting Birmingham and a 1-1 draw against a 10-man Watford.

He has played a variation of 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 in those matches and he’s likely to keep with that formation as Stoke don’t really have the players to fit into his preferred back five. He’s likely to make Stoke a much trickier proposition, especially away from home.

Perhaps the biggest blow that Stoke have suffered this season was the recall of Mark Travers. Back at the end of October, Travers's parent club Bournemouth had a keeper injury crisis which allowed them to activate an emergency recall clause in the loan contract. The 24-year-old has yet to feature for Bournemouth but has been on their bench every game since.

Despite only keeping two clean sheets for Stoke, the keeper impressed in his time there and has proved to be a loss. Jack Bonham has stepped in and is doing a decent job himself with four clean sheets in ten starts but at the time Travers seemed like a big loss.

The other changes all come in terms of new signings that were made before the transfer window closed.

At right-back, 20-year-old Cameroonian Junior Tchamadeu arrived from Town’s local neighbours Colchester. He had been one of their standout performers in League Two playing 95 games for them and scoring six goals.

He was in and out of the team under Neil but looks set to make more starts under Schumacher with the new manager starting him at right-back in his first game in charge and bringing him on for minutes at right-wing against Birmingham.

He’s a player that the fans are excited about and with Schumacher he could well end up turning that raw talent into some top Championship performances.

Tchamadeu was one deadline day signing at the Potteries. The other was someone far more experienced in Lyndon Gooch who moved to join his former manager. Versatility is his key strength and since signing he has played right-back, left-back, right wing and left wing.

Under the caretaker charge of Paul Gallagher and the Schumacher he’s moved further forward and has two goals in his last three games from those more advanced positions. He missed the Watford game with injury so it remains to be seen whether he can try to continue that goalscoring form in this one.

Moving into midfield and the signing that Stoke City fans were most excited about. Wouter Burger joined from Basel and has taken to life in the Championship like a duck to water. He only has one goal and two assists but is a classy operator both on and off the ball.

He ranks ninth for tackles of all midfielders in the league and is also good at driving forward with the ball in midfield with a 64% dribble success. He’s been a regular starter since signing, has played 17 games and is now one of the first names on the teamsheet.

The other signings came in attacking areas with the additions of Nickola Jojic, Medhi Lleris, Bae Jun-Ho and Sead Haksabanovic. Jojic has rarely featured and is clearly seen as one for the future but the other three have all been part of Stoke’s forward line rotation.

Lleris has made 13 starts on the right-wing, Haksabanovic six starts on the left wing and Bae Jun-Ho has played off of the left side or more recently in the central number ten role.

Between the three of them they only have eight goal contributions which shows where Stoke’s problems could lie, despite playing some good football they often lack the end product.

They also added Ciaran Clark on a free transfer after the window closed but the experienced defender has only started in three games so far. The 34-year-old has 214 games of Premier League experience so will provide solid back-up and good experience and leadership in the dressing room.

<h1>The Teams</h1>

Following an injury-ravaged team battling to a 0-0 draw with QPR, this one could be even harder to pick.

Burns and Broadhead were both missing with a vomiting bug which could easily spread around the group, so I don’t imagine they’ll travel for this one. Leif Davis was only a calf knock so I'm hopeful he’ll recover for this one.

Brandon Williams also looked off the pace on Friday night but with Kieran McKenna limiting Harry Clarke's minutes due to an ongoing achilles issue, but hopefully he’ll be able to come back in for this one.

This means I'm going for a back five of Hladky, Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess and Davis. If Davis isn’t fit to start, then it’ll likely be Cameron Humphreys in that position.

Despite a nervous first 20 minutes, Humphreys really grew into the game second half and whilst understandably not possessing the same class as Davis, was one of Town’s best threats and looked the most likely to make something happen.

In midfield, skipper Sam Morsy will be back from his suspension and I can see him being paired with Jack Taylor for this one.

In front of them, options will be limited so it’s likely to be Hutchinson, Chaplin and Harness behind Freddie Ladapo.

Gerrard Buabo will be pushing for more minutes after a promising cameo against QPR but McKenna has mentioned he’s still recovering from injury himself so his game time will be limited.

For Stoke Bonham will be in goal. Luke McNally and Michael Rose have formed a solid partnership at the back and unless there’s fitness issues that’s unlikely to be broken up.

Jordan Thompson has been filling in at left-back in recent games and dropped in there again against Watford and could continue there with the impressive Tchamadeu likely to be replaced by Ki Jana-However, at right-back given the number of games he’s played in a row.

Burger is one of the first names on the teamsheet and has been paired with Pearson, Thompson and Laurent in recent weeks, former Chelsea player Lewis Baker is also back in the squad, playing 20 minutes against Watford but I’m going to stick with the more battling Pearson in the middle for this one.

Vidigal, Bae Jun Ho and Ryan Mmaee played both Boxing Day and on 29th December, so one or two of those could drop out. I’m going to call experienced Daniel Johnson replacing Jun Ho in the number ten role but really, it’s anyone's guess.

After he had such an impact on the home game Wesley Moraes will also be pushing for a start.

<h1>Action Areas</h1>

Stoke lack a goal threat so far this season - Vidigal is their top goal scorer with five goals. But they’re a very solid team defensively with high numbers of tackles and interceptions so Town should be prepared for an aggressive mid-block.

They are up there in terms of Watford with the number of long balls they hit with Michael Rose on 4.1 successful long passes per game. They also surprisingly have the most crosses in the league, which is strange as they often play without a target man.

A lot of those stats and numbers will have been built up under Alex Neil and it remains to be seen what tactical changes Schumacher makes.

Looking at the initial stats from his first few games in charge Stoke have averaged slightly more possession, slightly more passes and slightly more shots although this is still a very low sample size to make conclusive judgements.

Given what we know about his Plymouth sides, Schumacher is very good at finding a system that lets individual talents shine. If he can get the best out of Vidigal then he can be a real threat in this league.

For Town, things won’t change too much, the midfield battle again will be important, and they’ll be helped no end by having Morsy back in there.

If Thompson does end up playing out of position at left-back then Hutchinson could have some joy isolating him one on one.

It’s not a game I see suiting Ladapo too much but Town don’t have many other options there so he’ll have to adapt his game to try and provide more of a threat running in behind and stretching that Stoke backline.

The other option is for him and Chaplin to potentially even switch roles with Ladapo dropping into the ten space and trying to get runners in behind him, possibly even Taylor from midfield.

I can see this being a tight scrappy game, but McKenna has hinted that at least one of the injury issues from Friday will be available for this one.

Given the timescale of sickness bugs my money is on that being Davis. If he’s back combined with the addition of Morsy in midfield again I think Town should create more than Friday night despite Hirst not being available.

There are no easy games at this level and Stoke players will still be looking to impress a new manager. The run of games and the fact they haven’t rotated much in the previous two games could hit them though. I’m going for another 1-0 away win for the Super Blues.

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