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Stoke City start their League Cup campaign against Rochdale

By Mike Dyce

ROCHDALE, ENGLAND - JANUARY 26: Stephen Ireland of Stoke City and Ian Henderson of Rochdale battle for the ball during the FA Cup fourth round match between Rochdale and Stoke City at Spotland Stadium on January 26, 2015 in Rochdale, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
ROCHDALE, ENGLAND - JANUARY 26: Stephen Ireland of Stoke City and Ian Henderson of Rochdale battle for the ball during the FA Cup fourth round match between Rochdale and Stoke City at Spotland Stadium on January 26, 2015 in Rochdale, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) /
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Stoke City look to start off their League Cup run on a high note against a third division Rochdale A.F.C. on Wednesday.

The Cup is about to begin for Stoke City!

Fans are hoping Stoke makes a deep run in the League Cup this year but before they get any further, we have to start at game one. This year it will be a rematch of the first round ten years ago, a match where Rochdale came out on top winning 4-2 on penalties after drawing 2-2 in regular time.

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Obviously, Rochdale fans would like to see their side cause an upset against on Wednesday and move on to the next round. Their current form, though, makes that unlikely. Currently in 21st overall in League One (English third division), Rochdale has only picked up one point in their first three matches. Even though a win here might be the spark to get the side on a winning streak, they will need one heck of a spark to get over Stoke City.

As most have already guessed, Stoke won’t be playing a 100% first team Wednesday night seeing they have an important match against West Brom on the weekend who are, surprisingly, tied on points for first in the Premier League after two games. But we will see some starters make their way on the pitch if necessary, with Bojan likely to start the match.

Here are highlights from the last time these two sides met back in January of 2015:

Stoke fans should expect to see their side to win fairly comfortably, but the players themselves shouldn’t see it like that. After a big win against Arsenal on the weekend, this could very well be a trap game for the Potters which means Mark Hughes and co. will have to be careful to not take this match too lightly.

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