Stoke City will be in a confident frame of mind when they return to their bet365 Stadium for Saturday’s clash against Swansea City, having recorded what seemed an unlikely 1-0 win away from home at West Brom.
The hosts have lost just 1 of their last 5 matches overall now in the Championship and having also registered crucial wins against Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 at home and a 5-2 win on the road at Huddersfield Town, Stoke now sit fourth from bottom in the second tier and hold an important 4-point cushion over the bottom three.
Stoke have also put together a 4-match sequence without defeat on home turf at their bet365 Stadium too which includes wins over Luton Town and the aforementioned victory over Sheffield Wednesday.
However, the bigger picture shows that Stoke have collected just 4 home wins out of their last 19 matches at the bet365 Stadium in the Championship, and this sequence of results also include 8 draws and 7 defeats, so the hosts are by no means guaranteed all three points here.
“There is a good spirit in the dressing room, and we need the character and determination we saw last night to go on and win games.” 💬The boss was impressed with his squad's character at the Hawthorns.#SCFC 🔴⚪— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) January 21, 2020
“There is a good spirit in the dressing room, and we need the character and determination we saw last night to go on and win games.” 💬The boss was impressed with his squad's character at the Hawthorns.#SCFC 🔴⚪
Saturday’s visitors, Swansea City, also bring a 4-match unbeaten run into this solitary fixture being played in the Championship this weekend after securing wins against Charlton Athletic and Wigan Athletic, which were both registered at their Liberty Stadium.
In addition, Swansea picked up points in draws with Barnsley (0-0 at home) and a solid point in a 0-0 draw in the local Welsh derby at Cardiff City, while The Swans have suffered just 1 defeat out of their last 8 matches overall in the second tier.
This consistent run of results have helped lift Swansea City to the fringes of the play-off pack as the visitors occupy 7th place and just 1 point adrift of 6th placed Preston North End prior to this trip to Staffordshire.
Swansea have also suffered just 2 defeats away from home out of their 13 matches on the road so far in this season’s Championship campaign, and indeed the bigger picture represents a solid record of results on their travels as The Swans have lost just 2 of their last 15 away matches.
While Stoke continue to find their feet under the guidance of manager, Michael O’Neill, Swansea have made themselves hard to beat under Steve Cooper and they stand a great chance of at least a point here, so they look a decent double chance option here.