A little look at Stoke…

February 27, 2009 by betfair.ie
Filed under: Aston Villa, Match Previews

D'ya reckon this year they have banners saying 'Championship Here We Come'? Oops... that's gonna cause some bitter comments from Stoke fans!

One of my mates supports Stoke and he bangs on at me about them all the time so I feel like I know them pretty (maybe even too) well. I’m sure no one needs reminding the Potters beat Villa last time out but I doubt they’ll do the same again.

Lets get through the cliches first. They’re a strong physical side and I imagine you know when you’ve played Stoke. Abdoulaye Faye has been knocking around the Premier League for a couple of years now and I think he’s a decent player. He works hard and gets involved in the attack as well as the defence, probably Stoke’s star man for me.

I was surprised when James Beattie moved to the Championship to play for Sheffield United because I always thought he was Premiership class. He has been in fine form lately to be fair but I doubt he’ll get many chances at Villa Park. Bizarrely he has a decent free-kick on him and will always be a danger in dead ball situations. Ricardo Fuller got arrested on Wednesday, I don’t know if he’ll be able to play at the weekend but if he is out Stoke’s chances of getting a goal will be pretty slim.

The main danger for Villa could be that Stoke would be happy with a 0-0 and just play with 10 men behind the ball. No one likes to watch that but to be fair if they turned up and tried to play football or take the game to Villa they’d get smashed off the park. An early goal could be the key to this one and in Heskey Villa have a forward who won’t be too put off by players trying to push him around. One thing is for certain, it won’t be a classic but it should be a pretty easy three points.

Written by Gareth Freeman, a sports writer who writes about betting for betfair.