Draw Destined For The Brittania On Sunday

Both sides are looking to bounce back from disappointing results before the international break…

Form
Stoke boss Mark Hughes bemoaned his side’s poor defending in their most recent defeat at Sunderland last time out. The Potters dominated possession but allowed the Black Cats to convert from a few simple chances after some uncharacteristic and sloppy mistakes at the back.

Previously Stoke had beaten Newcastle at the Britannia thanks to Peter Crouch’s third goal of the season, but that was their first points gained on home soil this season having previously lost to Aston Villa and Leicester here. Stoke fans are yet to watch a game with more than one goal scored at the Britannia this season, with all three fixtures ending in 1-0 scorelines.

Meanwhile, Swansea’s impressive start to the season has tailed off slightly over the course of the past month. After beginning the campaign with three straight wins Garry Monk’s side have now failed to win any of their last four league matches and have failed to score in two of their last three.

The Swans have failed to win away from home since the opening day victory over Manchester United.

Nathan Dyer is the club’s leading scorer with three league goals and one in the Capital One Cup, while Wayne Routledge has a couple of Premier League goals to his name and striker Wilfried Bony got his first of the campaign in a 2-2 draw with Newcastle a fortnight ago.

Team News
Marko Arnautovic was substituted with a knock during Austria’s 1-0 victory over Montenegro at the weekend and is therefore a slight doubt coming into this game, similarly Glenn Whelan will be assessed ahead of the game. Victor Moses looks set to return, however, after tweeting that he is back in full training and “looking forward to the game on Sunday”.

Jonjo Shelvey will sit the game out for Swansea after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle, Spurs loanee Tom Carroll is expected to deputise. Leon Britton has stepped up his recovery from injury recently, but won’t be back in action until the middle of next month at least, while Jordi Amat has targeted the cup game against Liverpool in 10 days time for his return to first team action.

Head-to-Head
Both games last season ended level, with the match here finishing 1-1 following goals from Peter Crouch and Chico. It was a considerably more open affair at the Liberty Stadium as Jonathan Walters and Stephen Ireland gave Stoke a 2-0 first-half lead before Wilfried Bony (2) and Nathan Dyer put the Swans in front and then Charlie Adam equalised with a last minute penalty.

Recommended Bets
Home advantage ensures Stoke are made favourites at odds of 6/4, while the visitors can be backed at 21/10. The draw at odds of 23/10 is my play, however, in a match between two evenly matched sides.

Goals are likely to be scarce and Under 2.5 goals is suitably short at a price of 4/6. The No selection offers a bit more value at odds of 10/11 in the Both Teams To Score market, while you can back a fourth consecutive 1-0 scoreline at the Britannia by punting on 1-0 and/or 0-1 at odds of 13/2 and 15/2 respectively.