Two teams that are not in the best of form will meet on Tuesday night in the Championship as Stoke City take on Southampton at Bet365 Stadium.
Key Takeaways
- The hosts have recorded the victory in just one of their past six league outings
- The Saints have won just one of their last five Championship matches
- Southampton have failed to beat Stoke across any of their last four attempts
There was a lot of promise for both of these sides before the new campaign got underway but they have both failed to deliver. The Potters have been incredibly inconsistent down in the bottom half of the table, whilst the visitors have struggled of late and have seen a dip in form.
Stoke City Form
After a promising start to the season where Stoke won three of their opening four competitive matches, they have gone on to win just two since, with just one of those coming in the league. That leaves them in the bottom half of the table after nine games but there is plenty of time left to turn things around.
Positives come in the fact that the Potters won their last match as they defeated Bristol City 3-2 away from home. That was their first triumph in five competitive outings and just their third in the Championship all season. Stoke also had to come back from 2-0 down last time out so they have demonstrated that they have plenty of character.
Southampton Form
The Saints had a solid beginning to the campaign as they lost just one of their first five competitive games, going four unbeaten in the league. However, they would go on to lose four in succession before getting back to winning ways last time out.
Russell Martin’s side did well to keep hold of their best players at the start of the term but the majority would eventually depart, which has coincided with their drop in performances. Nonetheless, Southampton were able to defeat Leeds 3-1 at St. Mary’s last time out, going up by three after just 35 minutes of play. They currently sit in mid-table.
Head-to-Head
The home side have had the happier set of supporters of late in this fixture since Stoke are unbeaten across their last four meetings with Southampton. In fact, the Saints have won just one of their last seven clashes with their opponents. Recent history certainly favours the Potters.
Team News
Young forward Emre Tezgel is still on the sidelines for Stoke as he recovers from long-term injury, whilst Tyrese Campbell, Ryan Mmaee, Andre Vidigal and Enda Stevens are also expected to miss out. Lewis Baker has been absent all season and won’t be available. There are some fresh concerns for Lynden Gooch and Michael Rose too who both picked up injuries against Bristol City.
Juan Larios, Jack Stephens and summer arrival Ross Stewart are all missing for Southampton as they continue to recover from their respective injuries. However, there aren’t any fresh injury problems. Martin is expected to rotate his side here with a busy schedule lined up.
Key Players
Vidigal will be a big loss to Stoke’s attacking quality since the Portuguese forward has scored four league goals this term and is their top goalscorer. However, both Sead Haksabanovic and Mehdi Leris scored last time out so the forward line is in form.
Leading the entire Championship goal scoring charts with seven goals under his belt already this season, Adam Armstrong will continue to be the danger man for the Saints. Che Adams has five goal contributions in the league too so he could return to the starting line-up here.
Final Thoughts
Stoke will be affected the most by their injury issues and that is the most damaging factor in deciding how likely they are at picking up a result here. Both teams boosted their morale by winning at the weekend so it could be a close affair.
Championship