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Make or Break Stretch for Stoke City’s Promotion Hopes

By Jeff Brantley

STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND - AUGUST 31: A general view outside the stadium as a 'We Are Stoke' sign is seen ahead of the Sky Bet Championship between Stoke City and Swansea City at Bet365 Stadium on August 31, 2022 in Stoke on Trent, England. (Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images)
STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND - AUGUST 31: A general view outside the stadium as a 'We Are Stoke' sign is seen ahead of the Sky Bet Championship between Stoke City and Swansea City at Bet365 Stadium on August 31, 2022 in Stoke on Trent, England. (Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images) /
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When matches resume in the Championship, Stoke City will be presented with the most crucial part of their season. Stoke City will play their first of eleven games between October 2nd and November 12th. This part of their season will either make or break their search for promotion this time around.

Don’t get it wrong, all matches in the Championship are important. Every single week there’s points up for grabs that either propel or sink teams.

But as you go deeper into a season, there comes a time where every team faces the most crucial part of their schedule. That’s where Stoke City finds themselves coming out of the international break.

The Road Ahead for Stoke City

Of the eleven matches Stoke City will play in October/November, eight of those matches (as of the table right now) will come against opponents that are either even with or have more points on the table than Stoke City. Adding to that, five of those opponents are top ten or better on the table.

Those opponents for The Potters over the next three matches include Watford on Sunday who sit at tenth on the table, Burnley the following week who are 4th on the table, and Sheffield United after that who sit at first on the table as of right now.

Then later this month, Rotherham at eight on the table and Norwich City at second on the table also take on Stoke City. If that doesn’t paint the picture of this upcoming stretch for Stoke City, then not much will. And this doesn’t even include The Potters final game before the World Cup break against West Brom on November 12th. While West Brom hasn’t played well so far this season, there’s a feeling that the former Premier League side will figure things out eventually.

Stoke City do host winless Coventry on October 22nd. Which presents a bit of a breather for the club with their upcoming fixtures. Outside of that though, it’s going to be tough sledding for The Potters over their next eleven matches.

Stoke City Can’t Afford Bad Results

Which means every game and every point will be huge for Stoke City. There’s bound to be matches during this upcoming stretch where the team are only able to grab a point. There’s also bound to be games that Stoke City drop all points in. After all, these are very good clubs they will be facing. So to expect a win every match is unrealistic.

But if Stoke City has a disastrous month of October or November, their chances of promotion could go way down. A bad stretch of results could lead to Stoke City being far behind the eight ball come late December after the World Cup.

That’s why these upcoming eleven games for Stoke City are must-perform-well-in games. Stoke City will not be able to afford dropping a ton of points over the next month. They’ll also have to likely grab all three points in a number of matches.

If they do perform well, we could be looking at a Stoke City team that sits close to a top five position on the table. If they don’t stay afloat though, this could end up being the stretch of the season that blows up Stoke City’s promotion hopes this season.