Mar
9
Stoke’s Nice Fixture List and the Premier League Relegation Battle
Filed Under Premiership | 2 Comments
It’ s at this point in the season that things start to look bleak for teams in the bottom half of the Premiership, 3 quarters of the season has gone and all are fighting off relegation. This season however, it’s slightly different. The teams you would expect to be doing badly (Wigan, Bolton and Fulham) are all doing relatively well in terms of their position and the teams you expected to do well (Portsmouth, Spurs and Newcastle) are fighting it out just off the bottom 3. West Brom look a certainty and as for the other 2 spots it’s a battle between 12 teams going up to Man City who could still be dragged in.
This could mean come the end of the season only 1 of the 3 promoted teams goes down (West Brom). Hull looked strong in the early part of the season winning at Arsenal and Tottenham and look well placed to stave off relegation. The fixture computer has been kind to them with Newcastle, Portsmouth and Stoke all to play at home and Wigan and Middlesborough to play away they look to be in a prime position. Their fixture list is only surpassed by Stoke’s in terms of kindest.
Stoke are frowned upon by most Premiership teams and their fans. To them Stoke play unattractive football emphasized by their main weapon of attack, Rory Delap, a long throw specialist. Their style of play, although dull, is very effective and has meant they’re not the relegation fodder many thought they were going to be at the start of the season. This notion was emphasized when they went to Chelsea and oh so nearly got a fantastic win.
As it stands they’re 15th, 3 places and two points off the relegation places. This may seem like a small gap but it looks much larger when you look at some of the teams they still have to play; Middlesbrough at home, West Brom away, Newcastle at home, Blackburn at home, Fulham away, West Ham at home, Hull away, Wigan at home and if they haven’t completed their escape by then they could try an audacious away win at Arsenal, who always look shaky at home. If you wanted one team to bet on to stay up it’s Stoke City.
Go on Potters! make us proud
You gotta love stoke city, go potters!