Stoke City play host to Huddersfield Town on Saturday afternoon looking for the win which may take the club into the top six of the Championship standings.
Having recorded just one victory in five matches, the Terriers make the trip to the bet365 Stadium sitting in 13th position.
Match preview
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During the early weeks of the season, Stoke received praise for their consistency, especially in defence with clean sheets being recorded on a regular basis.
However, Michael O'Neill has seemingly tinkered with the mentality of his squad, trading in tighter efforts at the back for a greater attacking urgency at the other end of the pitch.
Although shutouts are proving harder to come by, nine of Stoke's 15 strikes this season have come from their last five matches, including three against leaders Reading before the international break.
The result at the Madejski Stadium has catapulted the Potters back into the playoff mix, and O'Neill will be delighted that each goal came from his forward line.
After a slow start to the campaign, Steven Fletcher has now scored three times in five outings, while Tyrese Campbell has eight contributions to his name.
Opponents Huddersfield had looked liked guaranteed relegation contenders during the early weeks of the season before eventually appearing to find their way under new boss Carlos Corberan.
However, collecting just four points from their last five games has changed the mood at the John Smith's Stadium, leaving the Terriers back in the mid-table places.
Taking everything into account, Corberan will be content with the club's position at this stage of the campaign, but he will be less than satisfied with their differing performance levels.
Although their last three defeats have been by 2-1 scorelines, those games further highlighted that the Yorkshire outfit need to be more clinical in the final third.
Stoke City Championship form: DWLWLW
Huddersfield Town Championship form: WLLWLD
Team News
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Barring any late fitness issues, Corberan could opt against making changes to his Huddersfield XI.
If the Spaniard opts to revert to a back three, Christopher Schindler will be restored to the defence.
Despite their comprehensive win over Reading, Stoke boss O'Neill will be forced to make at least one alteration at the weekend.
James McClean recorded a positive coronavirus test on international duty with Republic of Ireland, while Jordan Thompson missed Northern Ireland's last match through injury.
Tashan Oakley-Boothe could come into the centre of midfield, with Josh Tymon and Tom Ince alternatives to McClean on the left flank.
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Gunn; Smith, Souttar, Batth, Fox; Campbell, Mikel, Oakley-Boothe, Ince; Powell, Fletcher
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Hamer; Pipa, Stearman, Sarr, Toffolo; Eiting, Hogg, O'Brien; Diakhaby, Campbell, Koroma
We say: Stoke City 2-1 Huddersfield Town
The inconsistencies of both clubs makes this a difficult match to call, particularly after the enforced break. However, despite their struggles to put together two wins in succession, we are backing Stoke to edge a close game in the Potteries.
Top betting tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Stoke City win with a probability of 43.59%. A win for Huddersfield Town had a probability of 28.78% and a draw had a probability of 27.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Stoke City win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.68%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.58%) and 2-0 (8.4%). The likeliest Huddersfield Town win was 0-1 (9.78%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.95%). The actual scoreline of 4-3 was predicted with a 0.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Stoke City would win this match.
