English Premier League preview: Stoke City versus Sunderland
Stoke City host Sunderland at the Britannia Stadium for this weekend Premier League fixture. Stoke boss http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tony-c35440 Pulis is aware that, despite his team’s eleventh
position, a few upsets in a season, being predicted as one of the most unpredictable ones yet, could easily send his team tumbling down into relegation danger.
Meanwhile, Pulis’ side can take comfort in the fact that this match will be played at the Britannia Stadium, considered as their fortress because of their
incredible home record. The Potters scored 20 out of their 30 points this season on the home turf. Stoke have not managed to conclude their season in a spot in the top half of the Barclays table since 1975. That dream may well be within Pulis’s squad’s reach
as, after hosting Sunderland, they have only two more home fixtures against teams in the top half of the table.
It’s a different story for sixth-placed Sunderland who have an array of fixtures against the sides who could maintain their top form this season. Their
next clash, after visiting Stoke, will be against the high-flying Tottenham Hotspur and then away games at Everton and Arsenal. They will then proceed to lock horns with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 and Manchester City, thus the Black Cats manager Steve Bruce will be most eager
to win this fixture, as claiming three points in the other scheduled matches is a more unlikely option.
Bruce must be proud of his team though, as before their match against Carlo Ancelotti’s http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786, his squad had seen only eight League goals scored against
them on their home turf. Their battle against Chelsea must have been a harsh reminder for the Black Cats of the difference between their squad and a team in the top four.
Stoke played this season one game less than Sunderland’s 25 and acquired seven points less than the Black Cats’. Both teams have won nine fixtures, with
Sunderland drawing ten, compared to City’s three. Pulis’s side lost 12 games this season compared to Bruce’s six defeats. The Black Cats scored 30 goals this season, equal to those the Potters conceded, and Pulis’s men scored 30, equal to the goals Bruce’s
team had let in against them. City have more yellow cards than Sunderland have, totaling at 45 as opposed to the Black Cats’ 39, although Pulis’ squad have two reds compared to Bruce’s side’s four.
Sunderland failed to score in their last five Premier League games against Stoke. The two teams have clashed 136 times, with Sunderland winning 60 and City
42 while 34 fixtures ended in draw. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dean-Whitehead-c10729 are part of the Stoke squad who once played in the Sunderland side.
The Stoke team welcome back http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ryan-Shawcross-c31996 for this fixture, as the player had incurred a suspension which prevented him from playing the last two games.
Kenwyn Jones and Mathew http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Etherington-c12941 may be in the starting eleven as Pulis had rested them during City’s previous fixture against Liverpool. Danny Higginbotham remains Stoke’s only injury worry with a hamstring problem.
Sunderland’s injury list includes captain http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lee-Cattermole-c21868, who is reported to spend at least a month under treatment for his back injury. Bruce may play
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Danny-Welbeck-c10233
is sidelined with a hamstring injury and will miss this match too.
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