The Potters cup run begins against rivals West Brom with a potential chance for some youngsters
to shine.
Alex Neil’s Stoke City could not have had a better start to the season, smashing Rotherham United 4-1 in a relatively comfortable afternoon for The Potters. However, The Baggies will provide a whole different challenge for The Potters as they look to improve upon their 2-1 loss against Blackburn Rovers by knocking Stoke out of the Carabao Cup.
Here’s everything you need to know about The Potters' first cup game of the season…
Team News
After many questions being raised about what The Potters’ potential line-up would be, those
questions were finally answered on Saturday with Neil choosing the following lineup:
Starting XI against Rotherham: (GK) Travers, Stevens, Wilmot, Rose, Hoever, Pearson, Laurent,
Johnson, Vidigal, Brown, Mmaee.
But how many changes will be made on Tuesday? Normally with cup games, slight adjustments are made to teams. So hopefully fans will be able to see some youngsters from the academy get their chance to shine.
Unfortunately, Stoke fans will not see wonderkid Emre Tezgel due to him picking up an injury in a
preseason game against Levante.
However, there are still plenty of potential academy players for Neil to choose from. Sol Sidibe, son of Stoke City legend Mama Sidibe could potentially start after becoming the second youngest player to make a league appearance for Stoke City after coming off the bench against Rotherham.
Sol is a midfielder who caught the eye of Technical Director Ricky Martin who stated that Sol has
“the opportunity to realise his potential and achieve” “first team” status. A start against The Baggies
on Tuesday would really allow Sidibe to show not only Alex Neil but the fans the talent which made Stoke City offer him a professional contract.
Youngsters Nathan Lowe and David Okagbue could also have the opportunity to make appearances against The Baggies.
After Stoke's sensational start against Rotherham, Alex Neil may only make a few changes to ensure that certain players are well rested for their next Championship fixture against Ipswich Town.
West Brom will be no pushovers, so Alex Neil is likely to start a strong squad against The Baggies.
Standout players from Saturday such as Vidigal and Johnson could retain their places. Substitutes
Chiquinho and Wesley could also make their first starts.
Predicted Starting XI: (GK) Bonham, Stevens, McNally, Wilmot, Hoever, Thompson, Laurent, Johnson, Chiquinho, Vidigal, Wesley.
The Manager
The Baggies manager Carlos Corberan was the former assistant manager to Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds United and it's clear that Bielsa has had an influence on Corberan’s play style.
Off the ball, his teams are known for high intensity for the entire match with player fitness being a necessity in his system. Defending is done as a unit and every player has a task and must perform that task to the highest of standards or they won’t play.
Corberan aims to overwhelm his opposition by having numerical superiority in the build-up,
something The Potters may struggle with due to full-backs such as Hoever really focusing on forward
rather than defensive play which The Baggies could exploit.
Width is also a huge focus with Corberan's teams using width to put crosses into the box which allowed wingers such as Sorba Thomas to really excel when Corberan was managing Huddersfield Town.
Opposition Players To Watch
Brandon Thomas-Asante may cause The Potters quite a lot of problems at the back. Acting as the
centre forward for The Baggies, Asante can use his pace and ability to draw out defenders leaving
space for his teammates and has scoring ability.
Asante's ability to draw out defenders may allow wingers such as Matt Phillips to have an impact on the game.
Head to Head
The Baggies were tricky opposition for The Potters last season with West Brom winning both games.
However, Stoke City have been the most successful team overall winning 64 drawing 37 and losing 51.
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