Stoke City vs Sheffield Wednesday preview: 3 players to watch

Stoke City vs Sheffield Wednesday preview: 3 players to watch

Saturday’s loss for Stoke City make their upcoming Tuesday match against Sheffield Wednesday an almost must win to keep any playoff hopes alive. Any Stoke fan is surely already aware of the current slide, but Stoke are winless in their last eleven matches, and 9 of those have been in Championship play.

Stoke are still seven points out of the last playoff spot, but with a loss they could also move down into the bottom half of the table.

Sheffield Wednesday will be coming into Tuesday in twenty-second place in the Championship and desperate for points. Despite their current place, Sheffield Wednesday seem to in good form with six wins and one draw in their last ten Championship matches.

Last 5

Stoke: D-L-D-D-L (Goal differential -4)

Sheffield Wednesday: L-W-W-L-W (Goal differential -1)

Players to watch for Stoke City #1 – Joe Allen

Seeing Joe Allen return to the Stoke lineup in December gave many fans hope that he could be a real game changer for the club, or at the very least a quality talent to have available. But Allen’s play has just not been enough of late, and with enough starts under his belt to get acclimated, it’s fair to say he’s struggling. He’s late on challenges, he adds to an already relatively slow midfield, and he hasn’t been able to do in much creatively going forward. Against Norwich, Allen not only gave away a penalty, but also had a number of chances to play that final ball forward but could not link up with teammates.

On paper, you see Joe Allen, John Obi Mikel, and Sam Clucas as midfielders for a Championship club and you would think they are angling for success, but the trio has just not done enough of late. It’s time for the trio to step up or lose playing time to Jordan Cousins and Jordan Thompson.