Inconsistent Stoke host promotion-pushing Swansea City at the Bet365 Stadium

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Michael O’Neill’s men have only won twice in 2021 as the chance of the Play-Offs are slowly slipping away from the Potters.

On Wednesday evening, they face Swansea City as the Swans come to the Bet365 Stadium in need of a win to keep up with the top three as they hunt for automatic promotion.

The Potters will look to get a third win of 2021 as O’Neill’s side has slightly stuttered in their performances and therefore slipped further away from the Play-Off places.

Three losses in their last five games will create more uncertainty in the Stoke camp as they look to return to the top-flight for the first time since 2017/18.

After the Staffordshire side were defeated 2-0 by Barnsley at Oakwell in midweek, the Potters travelled to automatic promotion-pushing Brentford.

Jacob Brown was able to fire O’Neill’s men into an early lead as his goal in the first-half separated the two sides as they headed into the interval.

Vitaly Janelt equalised for Brentford in the 56th minute as the hosts looked to gain all three points as momentum shifted in their favour.

Championship top goalscorer, Ivan Toney, added to his monstrous goal tally this season as his 79th-minute goal gave Thomas Frank’s men all three points from the fixture and getting their second consecutive win in the process after an awful run of three straight defeats before these two wins.

After their second straight defeat, Stoke will hope to banish the demons of defeat as they look to assess their mistakes and put them right with their run-in until the end of the Championship season.

Currently sat in fourth, Swansea City will hope to gain some stability after an up and down last five matches with three victories and two defeats.

The Swans were relegated the same season that Stoke did as the Welsh club finished one place ahead of the Potters but three points away from safety.

After their 1-0 victory against Coventry in midweek, Steve Cooper’s men welcomed a resurgent Bristol City to the Liberty Stadium as the Robins were finally able to break their winless curse against Middlesbrough in midweek.

The match finally opened up in the second-half as no goal were scored in the first 45 minutes. Andre Ayew slotted from the penalty spot in the 55th minute to give the hosts the lead.

11 minutes later, Nakhi Wells would score for the visitors as they searched for back-to-back wins for the first time since November.

Kasey Palmer added a second with ten minutes of normal time to go with Antoine Semenyo adding a third for the Robins in the 97th minute as they ran out as 3-1 victors that afternoon.

Since their relegation into the second tier, Stoke have beaten Swansea three times in the Championship with the Swans beating the Potters on two occasions.

Back in October, Cooper’s men beat O’Neill’s men at the Liberty Stadium as they ran out as 2-0 victors that evening.

Jay Fulton opened the scoring on the half hour mark as Kasey Palmer added a second in the 87th minute to take three points away from the Potters.

Swansea’s last victory over the Staffordshire side at their home came in March 2001 with a 2-1 victory over the Potters.

In the last nine attempts at the home of Stoke City, the Swans have lost seven times and drawn twice as they look to finally break the curse of the Bet365 Stadium and gain a valuable three points in the hunt for automatic promotion.

Whereas for the Potters, they will be looking to use this fantastic home form against the Welsh side to good effect as they hope to spring into Play-Off worthy form.

 

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