The Christmas and New Year period in the footballing calendar is a crucial time for a lot of clubs, not least Stoke City who currently sit bottom of the Championship but are just 2 points adrift of fourth from bottom Luton Town and safety ahead of this festive schedule.
The initial burst of renewed confidence and belief instilled by new manager, Michael O’Neill, following the sacking of former boss Nathan Jones, was full of promise.
Stoke registered back-to-back wins against Barnsley 4-2 away from home which was swiftly followed up with a 2-1 home win against Wigan Athletic at their bet365 Stadium.
However, since the early impact, Stoke have been unable to continue that momentum and seem to have reverted back to type as The Potters have picked up just one further win from their subsequent 6 matches - which was a 3-0 win at home versus Luton Town.
3 of Stoke’s 5 wins to date in the Championship have been recorded on home turf at their bet365 Stadium with wins against Fulham, Wigan and Luton - the latter two results being achieved against teams sitting in the bottom four of the division.
By contrast, Sheffield Wednesday are steadily building impressive momentum under their new manager, Garry Monk, as The Owls now sit in 3rd place and a position in the play-off pack in the Championship thanks to a 6-match unbeaten run.
Sheffield Wednesday have won 4 of these last 6 matches by picking up important wins against Charlton Athletic 3-1 away, Brentford 2-1 at home, Nottingham Forest 4-0 away and a 1-0 home win against Bristol City on Sunday.
The visitors are also unbeaten in their last 3 matches away from home and this upcoming trip to the bet365 Stadium to face a struggling Stoke City outfit is unlikely to worry this confident Owls outfit who’ll be looking to reduce the deficit on their Yorkshire rivals, Leeds United, who sit in 2nd place and 8 points ahead of Wednesday.
Overall results away from home in the Championship for Sheffield Wednesday haven’t been too bad as the bigger picture shows that The Owls have suffered just 6 defeats out of their last 21 matches on their travels, and this should see the visitors at least avoid defeat at Stoke on Boxing Day, but could take the honours.