Victories for Wolves and West Ham over the weekend means that the Baggies occupy 19th place in the table and Roy Hodgson will be paying a second visit to the Britannia Stadium this season hoping to be more successful than his first trip to the Potteries.
Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat was one of the insipid performances which prompted the owners to part company with Hodgson, although he now has the chance to redeem himself with West Brom and will be looking to end a 29-year jinx against the Potters.
“You give me a statistic saying you haven’t won here for goodness knows how long, and I see an opportunity to put it right,” Hodgson said. “Everyone expects us to lose so let’s get out there and prove them wrong.”
Stoke sit 11th in the Premier League table and are nervously looking over their shoulders after the weekend results which means that City themselves are only five points clear of the relegation zone.
Manager Tony Pulis saw his team perform admirably when losing 1-0 at Arsenal last week and has targeted a top-ten finish in the Premier League along with an FA Cup final appearance.
“Our priority is to stay in the Premier League, without a question of a doubt, and we’ve done fantastic for the past two seasons” Pulis told talkSPORT. “This year is a very, very unique and unusual season in the respect that there’s so many people still involved either at the top or at the bottom.
“But we would love to get to Wembley – the football club, the supporters and obviously the players and my chairman.”
Match odds:
Stoke, 10/11 with bet365
Draw, 5/2 with Totesport
West Brom, 4/1 with Betfred