English Premier League: Stoke City vs. Birmingham City – Match Preview
Tuesday’s fixture in the English Premier League sees Stoke City taking on Birmingham City
at the Britannia Stadium. Stoke have scored 10 points from 11 games and find themselves flirting with relegation in 17th place, while Birmingham lie 2 places above them in 15th position.
Defeat against Sunderland FC was The Potters’ 4th successive league loss; their
worst run in the top flight since relegation in 1985. Manager Tony Pulis has blamed refereeing errors for his side’s poor run of form, and claims 6 major decisions have gone against them in their 11 league games this season. Pulis has proposed a system of
promotion and relegation for match officials to monitor and oversee referees’ performances.
He said, “Every club should have one vote annually and mark referees after every game. Then
they have a chance of being relegated to the Championship. It would be a great system. People say you can't help certain officials being a little biased towards bigger clubs. They don't go out with it in their minds but they tend to do it.”
Tony was understandably furious after his team lost at The Stadium of Light on Saturday,
when Kenwyne Jones' goal-bound effort was handled on the line by Sunderland midfielder Lee Cattermole, an event which went unnoticed by match official Martin Atkinson.
Jones, who is Stoke’s top scorer this season with 3 league goals, has failed to strike in
his last 5 games, a run that has corresponded with his side’s poor form. The Trinidadian came close to joining Birmingham last season in January, when the Blues offered his former club Sunderland a lucrative deal for him. Sunderland rejected the bid from Birmingham,
but sold the striker to The Potters this summer.
Although Blues’ manager Alex McLeish has boosted his attacking options by signing Serbian
marksman Nikola Zigic, goal-scoring still remains a major problem for them.
Their left-back Liam Ridgewell, who scored the equalizer against West Ham United Saturday,
is the joint top-scorer with 3 league goals, alongside Craig Gardener.
Ridgewell’s goal-scoring attitude against West Ham was praised by his manager. After the
game, Alex said, “Ridge has got an eye for a goal, no doubt about it.
“He does what a lot of the best strikers do – follow the ball in, the second ball. Take a
gamble and you get goals like that. Ridge has that knack.”
Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross is suspended for one game following his red card on Saturday,
while German international Robert Huth is expected to occupy the centre of defence, partnering with Danny Higginbotham.
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish may opt to change the 4-3-1-2 formation he used for Saturday's
draw at Upton Park. Jean Beausejour and Craig Gardner both showed impressive performances as substitutes in the game with the Hammers, and could start for the Blues.
Birmingham will be hoping to capitalize on Stoke’s tendency of poor starts to the games.
The Potters have the Premier League's worst 1st half record this season, where they have been behind 9 times, at half-time intervals.
The Blues will be looking to improve their poor form in front of goal this season, which
has seen them score only 6 league goals in 8 matches.
On a head-to-head basis, Birmingham have managed to beat Stoke in 3 of their last 4 league
and cup games, while keeping a clean sheet on each occasion.
Stoke City’s probable Starting 11: Asmir
Begovic, Robert Huth, Daniel Higginbotham, Abdoulaye Faye, Daniel Collins, Jonathan Walters, Dean Whitehead, Rory Delap, Matthew Etherington, Tuncay Sanli, Kenwyne Jones.
Birmingham City’s probable starting 11: Ben
Foster, Stephen Carr, Roger Johnson, Scott Dann, Liam Ridgewell, Sebastian Larsson, Barry Ferguson, Alexander Hleb, Keith Fahey, Cameron Jerome, Nicola Zigic.
Match Prediction: Although
Birmingham City have not managed to score a lot of goals, they still have a decent defensive record. Stoke City will find it pretty hard to score against a well-organised Birmingham back four. Final Predicted Score: 0-0.
Tags: