Premier League preview: Stoke City v Birmingham City
Although it’s still only November and not even a third of the way through the new season, the impressive form of the three newly-promoted sides heaps added pressure on the likes of Stoke City and Birmingham City.
Neither club has started the season in anything resembling fine form, meaning that both currently languish perilously close to the bottom three as a result.
Too early to class this Premier League clash as a six-pointer? Don’t tell that to either Tony Pulis or Alex McLeish.
Both managers have endured a comedown after the highs of last season. Only three points separated the pair at the end of the last campaign, with the Blues amassing 50 points and the Potters, 47. However, 11 games into the 2010/11 season and both Pulis and McLeish would snap the hands off anyone offering those points’ tallies come May.
Pulis must have felt his Stoke side had turned the corner in September and early October after the Potters embarked on a four-match unbeaten run – winning three of those games. At the end of August, the club were sitting 19th in the league without a single point following three consecutive defeats, but that was mostly put down to a slow start.
The same excuse can’t be used now. Stoke have lost their last four league matches, plummeting eight league places in the process, and seemingly lacking the bite which cemented their reputation as one of the toughest teams to play in the league over the past few seasons.
It could well be that Pulis’ men are longing for the comforts of home. Apart from the Manchester United defeat, which Stoke lost in rather unfortunate circumstances, the Potters have travelled away from home in three of their last four league games.
Few top-flight clubs can match the atmosphere generated inside the Britannia Stadium when the place is rocking, and the home supporters will have a key role to play this evening.
For McLeish, he must ensure that his players aren’t overawed by the boisterous, tense mood inside the ground come kick-off. Although the Blues have only sealed 12 points from their first 11 matches, it’s been a succession of draws, rather than defeats, which have held the West Midlands club back this season.
Birmingham have only lost three matches so far, but have drawn six times, including their last two league games against rivals Aston Villa and West Ham. Still seeking their first away victory this season, the Britannia Stadium would have appeared low down on the list of next destinations if McLeish had his way.
Perhaps the biggest dilemma facing the Scot right now is how to fit in on-loan Barcelona midfielder, Alexander Hleb. Against the Hammers on Saturday, McLeish was forced to substitute the former Arsenal star after he failed to shine in the experimental 4-3-1-2 formation. Eventually, the Blues boss was able to salvage a hard-earned point – coming from 2-0 down - after tinkering with the shape of his team and sending on Craig Gardner and Jean Beausejour.
A player of Hleb’s experience and technical ability makes him a valuable asset for a club like Birmingham, but on the other hand, there’s a chance that their hustle and bustle approach, which has served them so well on various occasions over the past year, could be pushed a little too far to one side to accommodate him.
Against Stoke – the top-flight outfit most notorious for physical football – the more intricate, technical aspects of the game will take a backseat to a similarly full-blooded style of play, which could mean Hleb is dropped down to the subs’ bench.
Following his rant about referees on Monday, Pulis will be hoping that his side have fulfilled their quota of poor refereeing decisions for one year. The Stoke boss controversially suggested that Premier League officials should be marked by clubs, with the three worst performing referees being relegated to the Football League.
His comments came just two days after Martin Atkinson missed a blatant handball by Sunderland’s Lee Cattermole on the goal-line to deny Kenwyne Jones his first goal for five matches. Although the aggrieved Pulis also claimed that six major decisions have gone against his team so far this season.
Stoke are due a win as much as they are some good fortune, but Birmingham aren’t the type of opponents to cut them some slack.
With both teams desperate to move away from the relegation zone, this fixture promises to be your typical cold, wet, Tuesday night at an unfashionable English ground – the type of match where foreign imports are clichéd to shirk responsibility.
But Pulis and McLeish will hope that particular stereotype holds little truth this evening, looking for big performances from their star players in difficult conditions.
The hosts will be slight favourites despite their poor recent run of results, but home is where the heart is, and it’s at the Britannia where Stoke’s fighting spirit will be reinvigorated this evening.
Prediction: Stoke City 1 Birmingham City 0
Tags: