Millwall suffered a 1-0 defeat away at Aston Villa on Easter Monday which has left The Lions precariously perched just above the relegation zone ahead of this crucial lunchtime clash with Stoke City at the New Den on Saturday.
Millwall still hold a valuable three point cushion above third from bottom club, Rotherham United who lost 3-1 at home to Birmingham City, so today’s hosts still have a bit of breathing space but Neil Harris’s side will no doubt want all three points here in order to take a big step towards Championship safety.
Millwall have produced mixed results of late as they’ve registered wins against Birmingham City and West Brom but have also lost to Leeds United and Aston Villa. Three draws in between against QPR, Sheffield United and Brentford though have helped keep Millwall’s heads above water.
The hosts have managed just one win out of their last eight matches though which has kept the pressure on, and goals have been in short supply too as 11 of their 21 home matches have resulted in under 2.5 goals.
Stoke City sit in 16th place in the Championship and are now just marking time in what has been a very disappointing campaign for The Potters who were touted as one of the pre-season favourites to achieve automatic promotion from the second tier this season.
Instead, Stoke City find themselves languishing in the bottom half of the division and being tagged the ‘draw specialists’ of this season’s Championship certainly hasn’t done them any favours.
The visitors have gained just one win from their last nine matches overall, which was a 1-0 win away at Blackburn Rovers but Stoke have struggled for goals this season, especially away from home where they’ve failed to score in 8 of their 22 away matches to date, which includes five 0-0 stalemates.
One win from their last 14 away matches underlines the troubles that Stoke have had this season on the road, and of their 22 away matches so far this season, 12 of these have been draws.
In addition, 13 of Stoke City’s 22 away matches have resulted in under 2.5 goals and they’re extremely unlikely to go all-out on the front foot at Millwall on Saturday - instead, the visitors are likely to try and grind out another point.
This could be a low-scoring affair as a result.