Tony Pulis’ squad ride into the double Gameweek on a high note, having overpowered Sunderland in the early kick-off last Saturday, in a 3-2 victory that seemed to unleash the goal frenzy that continued for the rest of the day.
Stoke’s form has been erratic at best however, and it’s difficult to get too excited about the prospects for Fantasy returns with a double consisting of two away games, the first against a resurgent Birmingham; the second at the Emirates against what should be a determined Arsenal side seeking points and redemption.
The Prospects
Since Boxing day, Stoke have won 4 and lost 4, with no identifiable pattern to their results. They’ve scored 10 goals and conceded the same total in these 8 games, failing to score on 3 occasions and recording clean sheets in 3 matches. To sum up, they are capable of pulling out a performance and winning matches, but are hideously inconsistent and a gamble in Fantasy terms as a result.
On the road, Stoke’s performance conforms to that of the majority of teams caught in mid-table or below. Perhaps not having your home ballboys to hand fresh towels to Rory Delap before every throw-in actually makes the difference, but suffice it to say that 3 wins and 1 draw from 12 away games thus far will certainly not inspire confidence.
Stoke returns certainly seem more likely to come from their first fixture against a Birmingham squad just pulling itself out of the relegation zone. St. Andrews has been a flimsy fortress this season and Birmingham have failed to record a clean sheet at home since November. With fresh blood in the ranks however, Birmingham appear to have turned a corner in recent weeks and will go into the weekend as favourites.
In the second fixture, Arsenal will be heavily favored, but Stoke may find a glimmer of hope offered by the Gunners’ age-old struggle with some of the more physical teams, with the possibility of some rotation/distraction ahead of the Carling Final and the second-leg of the Champions League with Barcelona will work in their favour.
While Stoke’s prospects for the double Gameweek are not the brightest, with perhaps more favorable options in the same price range, if you take a long-term view, their prospects perhaps compare well. It’s worth noting that Stoke follow the double Gameweek with two out of the next three matches at home – kind fixtures against West Brom and Newcastle, with an away trip to West Ham sandwiched in between.
The Likely Lads
Robert Huth has been on the Watchlist for weeks, and made up for a serious defensive blunder on Saturday by rewarding his owners with 2 goals and 1 assist. It was a huge payday for his owners and with 6 goals and 3 assists on the season, Huth has been consistent enough to convince that jumping on the bandwagon now is following form rather than naively chasing past points. I’m still search for a more attacking nickname – it’s surely an insult to continue to refer to him simply as “the new Ryan Shawcross”?
Asmir Begovic offers a more economical option into the Stoke defence, but with two away games in the double (and one of them being Arsenal), Huth’s potential for attacking returns makes him a significantly stronger option.
Matthew Etherington has cooled off some in relative terms, but he’s still Stoke’s Fantasy point leader on the season, with 4 goals, 7 assists, and 15 bonus points in the FPL game. Going back to Boxing Day, Etherington has only 1 goal and 2 assists in 8 games; perhaps more troubling is the fact that he played the full 90 on only one occasion during that stretch. Given other options in the sub-6.0 bracket, this is a difficult investment to justify.
Cheeky Punt
John Carew opened his Stoke account this past Gameweek with a goal and an assist (and it might have been two goals had Huth gotten his nose out of the way). Carew’s size and the physical side of his game should continue to mesh very well with Stoke’s gameplan, and it will remain a huge task for defences to deal with the attacking duo of Carew and the athleticism of Kenwyne Jones. That pairing will fancy themselves against the Arsenal back four in particular, and either of the pairing could be worth a punt as a result.
