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Stoke City vs. Hull City: Preview & Prediction

By Jeff Brantley

STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND - JANUARY 29: during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round between Stoke City and Stevenage at Bet365 Stadium on January 29, 2023 in Stoke on Trent, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND - JANUARY 29: during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round between Stoke City and Stevenage at Bet365 Stadium on January 29, 2023 in Stoke on Trent, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /
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When Stoke City kick-off against Hull City on Saturday, the club will be just five points above the relegation zone after Huddersfield picked up a draw this past Tuesday — Which once again highlights and emphasizes just how much work The Potters still have ahead of them for the rest of the season.

In need of more points on Saturday (as the club will be for the rest of the season), Stoke City will welcome in Hull City to Bet365 Stadium. This will be the second meeting of the season for the two teams after Stoke City beat Hull City 3-0 on the road in September.

Stoke City vs. Hull City Prediction:

When these two teams last met in September, Stoke City’s outlook look much brighter at the time. Although The Potters were sitting in a relative similar position that they are now table wise, the team was still just 8 points out from the top of the table. And coming out of their match with Hull City, Stoke City were able to bag three goals for the first time this season.

So overall things were looking up for Stoke City at that time. Fast-forward of course now though, and The Potters are in for a real fight the rest of this season as they hope to just avoid relegation this campaign. And Saturday’s result will once again have a big impact on how that story might play out for Stoke City.

The good news for Stoke City is that this is a matchup that they should be able to at least exploit in attack. Coming into Saturday’s match, Hull City sit at third worst in the league in terms of goals against as The Tigers have conceded 44 goals so far on the season.

Hull City’s xGA (expected goals against) data isn’t any better as The Tigers are still third worst in the Championship in terms of xGA at 39.1, per FBref. So what does this all equal for Stoke City? It should equal a game where The Potters can score multiple goals.

Which leads us to our final prediction for Saturday’s match — Stoke City should be able to score two or even three goals again versus Hull City — The match result will just come down to can Stoke City defend enough to not give up points in a draw or even a lopsided loss?

Many times this year the answer to that question is no. But for this Saturday, given Stoke City’s previous result against Hull City and the fact that The Tigers aren’t an attacking juggernaut (37 goals scored this season so far), we’ll say Stoke City can get the job done.

Final Prediction: Stoke City leave Bet365 Stadium on Saturday with a 3-1 win.