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Will Stoke City’s Recent Fixture Schedule Hamper Performance?

By Jeff Brantley

SWANSEA, WALES - FEBRUARY 21: (L-R) Dwight Gayle of Stoke City is challenged for a header by Nathan Wood of Swansea City during the Sky Bet Championship match between Swansea City and Stoke City at the Swansea.com Stadium on February 21, 2023 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images)
SWANSEA, WALES - FEBRUARY 21: (L-R) Dwight Gayle of Stoke City is challenged for a header by Nathan Wood of Swansea City during the Sky Bet Championship match between Swansea City and Stoke City at the Swansea.com Stadium on February 21, 2023 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images) /
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The Potters return to Bet365 Stadium on Saturday to take on Millwall. And with that, as it will be for the rest of the season most likely, The Potters will need to grab points to  stay away from relegation.

Stoke City going into Saturday’s Millwall match sit at 17th on the table with 40 points. That’s good enough for a nine point cushion from the relegation zone. That lead was partially opened up this past Tuesday when The Potters grabbed all three points on the road against Swansea.

But can Stoke City keep that momentum going in their matches ahead given their heavy fixture schedule? That could be one more thing that Potters fans have to worry about moving forward in weeks ahead.

Stoke City Have Played A Lot of Matches Recently

After next Saturday’s match against Sunderland, The Potters will have played eight matches within a five week period. If you rewind the upcoming schedule for Stoke City it also looks like this: After this Saturday’s match The Potters will have played six matches within a month. And after Tuesday’s big meeting with Brighton in the FA Cup, it’ll be seven matches within a month played.

That equals about two matches a week over the past month and only two to four days in between each match over the same period. Without going on more, we know you get it. Basically Stoke City have played a ton of matches. And in most cases they’ve played way more matches than the average Championship team over that span.

Now Stoke fans won’t complain too much, because this current crowded schedule is in large part due to The Potters success in the FA Cup. But still, Stoke City have played a lot of matches recently and at some point you have to figure that will fatigue Alex Neil’s team a bit.

How much will it fatigue the club? That’s to be seen. But there’s no doubt that at some point ahead Stoke City could lose some steam because of their crowded fixture list — That’s especially true given Stoke City’s handful of injuries and illnesses they’ve been dealing with/still are dealing with.