Will Stoke City stop the leaders from West Bromwich?

The eleventh matchday in the Championship starts with the West Midlands clash between Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion. While the visitors underlined their promotion ambitions with a strong start to the season, the hosts from Stoke-on-Trent sometimes lagged behind the great expectations. Most recently, they lost a surprising point at Preston.

However, the Potters will have the chance to make amends on Friday evening. With a win against WBA, the gap to the top of the table can be minimised to one point for the time being. As the odds comparison of the betting providers shows, that scenario is not the best choice, at least according to the betting providers’ assessment.

The Potters have not won a home game against WBA for almost four years. It is therefore not at all surprising that the bookmakers also classify Stoke as underdogs according to odds in the upcoming match against West Brom.

Nevertheless, it is more than daring to make a prediction on the visitors in Stoke vs West Brom on Friday night. So far this season, Stoke City have yet to concede a home defeat. In fact, head coach Michael O’Neill’s side have won four of their five home games.

Stoke – Statistics & current form

Just like Friday’s opponents, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, Stoke City are also among the close circle of promotion candidates for the first time again this season. The Potters have been languishing in the Championship for a number of years and have largely stayed out of the promotion race in England’s second tier.

Last season, Stoke finished 14th in the Championship – their best result since relegation from the Premier League in the 2017/18 season. Nevertheless, the board still relies on head coach Michael O’Neill, who has been in charge for almost two years now and still has a contract until 2023.

So far, the Potters have made a promising start to the 2021/22 season under O’Neill’s leadership. Ten matchdays after the start of the season, the former founding member of the Football League is already in fifth place in the table. The gap to leaders WBA is just four points.

Six-point game for Stoke City

The “Potters” now face a top-of-the-table clash against the league leaders on Friday night. The Red and Whites will be aiming for their first home win over the Baggies since December 2017 in the West Midlands clash In the last two home games – both in the Championship, mind you – there were two defeats against West Bromwich Albion.

The home record this season is encouraging ahead of the clash against the leaders. Stoke remained unbeaten in seven home games in the 2021/22 season. Stoke City even won six of the seven home games, including four home victories in the Championship.

That record should also be extended against the Baggies. O’Neill will have to do without Campbell and Oakley-Boothe due to injury, and Sam Clucas is also out after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season. However, if SCFC do manage a home win, odds of 3.10 are paid out on a bet on the hosts in Stoke v West Brom

Predicted Stoke line-up:
Davies – Ostigard, Souttar, Wilmot – Smith, Sawyers, Vrancic, Thompson, Tymon – Powell – Surridge

Last games played by Stoke:

West Brom – Statistics & current form

The “Baggies” are on course for promotion back to the English top flight. Ten matchdays after the start of the season, West Brom already have 22 points. WBA leads the Championship table, level on points with Bournemouth but with the better goal difference. Most recently, the leaders have picked up two wins in a row to end their little run of form.

WBA currently have a record of 6-4-0 and a goal difference of 20:8, making the Baggies the second best offensive team in the Championship. Along with Derby, who are in last place after a harsh points deduction by the English Football Association, West Bromwich Albion also have the second strongest defensive bulwark in the league.

During the week, Valérien Ismael’s side rolled over Cardiff City to record an impressive 4-0 away win at their Welsh league rivals. It was now the third away win of the season for the “Baggies”, with Ismael’s side previously winning away to Peterborough (1-0) and Blackburn (2-1).

Can WBA defend their lead at the top of the table?

The away game at Stoke-on-Trent is one of the toughest away hurdles in the Championship. Still, the Baggies’ favouritism is not at all surprising, especially as WBA have already scored at home to strong sides such as Cardiff, Blackburn and also Bournemouth. West Brom also scored at least one goal in every away game.

It is quite possible that the series will continue against the Potters. Since December 2014, WBA have scored at least one goal in each of their last five away games against Stoke City West Brom even netted two goals in their last meeting at Stoke-on-Trent just under two years ago.

Like the opposing head coach, Ismael will be spared any major personnel worries for Friday’s clash. Only Dara O’Shea will miss the West Midlands clash through injury, with no other absentees for the visitors.

Predicted West Brom line-up:
Johnstone – Ajayi, Bartley, Townsend – Furlong, Livermore, Mowatt, Reach – Phillips, Robinson, Grant

Last matches played by West Brom:

Stoke – West Brom Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

This is the 149th time the two clubs have met in their club history. So far, Stoke City leads the head-to-head comparison against WBA with a record of 62-37-49. In recent years, however, the “Baggies” have had the edge. Since December 2014, Stoke have won only two of their last eleven competitive matches against West Brom.

Most recently, there have been three defeats in the last four games between the two clubs from the West Midlands. Only in the most recent meeting did Stoke City surprisingly beat West Bromwich Albion, before which WBA had won three in a row – two of them away from home, mind you.

Stoke – West Brom Tip

For the first time since their relegation from the English top flight almost three years ago, Stoke City have made a promising start to the Championship season and are among the top five teams in the second division after ten matchdays. The “Potters” are still four points behind the leaders from West Bromwich.

The upcoming six-point game against WBA is therefore all the more important and groundbreaking. A few days after the disappointing draw against Preston North End, Stoke have to face West Bromwich Albion at home. Unlike the hosts from Stoke-on-Trent, West Bromwich picked up an impressive away win at Cardiff City during the week.

Meanwhile, it was the second win in a row for the “Baggies”. With this, the troops of head coach Valérien Ismael could also end the mini-crisis – previously WBA played three times in a row only a draw. Nevertheless, we expect a match of equals on Friday night, in which the home side definitely have the potential to defy the guests from West Bromwich.

For Stoke vs. West Brom our betting odds are on “More goals in the 2nd half “ For this we bet five units. The two clubs will probably only feel each other out before the change of ends and not take any major risks. In 80% of all Stoke home games this season, at least one goal has always been scored in the second half