Millwall v Stoke City – Preview by James Kelly
Millwall return to The Den this weekend to take on Alex Neil’s Stoke City. Millwall manager Gary Rowett is under increasing pressure from the lions fans after 3 consecutive defeats, the latest one being a 3-1 away defeat to Norwich City last time out. And how he would love to get the better of one of his old clubs to ease the pressure.
The Potters have had an interesting start to the season. With a 4-1 win against Rotherham United, followed by a 2-0 defeat to Championship new boys Ipswich Town before securing an impressive 1-0 win at home to Watford last time out
Ones to watch
New summer signing Andre Vigidal has had an incredible start to his Stoke City career, scoring 4 of the 5 goals they’ve bagged in the first 3 games of the season. Another one the Millwall defence will have to be hot on their heels to keep at bay is Aston Villa loanee striker Wesley. While he hasn’t opened his account yet this season, there is always the risk that could happen this weekend.
Stoke have had one of the better windows out of all the clubs in the league and one man Millwall fans will know about is goalkeeper Mark Travers who has joined them on a season long loan from Bournemouth. One person Millwall were interested in this summer.
The difference makers
Following last week’s defeat to Norwich, Gary Rowett has once again dipped into the transfer market. Bringing in right back Brooke Norton-Cuffy on loan from Arsenal, it will be interesting to see if he plays at the weekend and hopefully makes an instant impact.
Aisomo Emakhu came off the bench last week to net Millwall’s only goal, albeit a consolation and Rowett has alluded to the possibility of him gaining a start for the lions. Could that come on Saturday?
The last time we met
Our last meeting with Stoke City came in February when Zian Flemming scored the only goal of the match on the 9th minute in a 1-0 win for the lions. However, Stoke were very much in the game and had a goal disallowed. The lions’ resilience paid off and they came back to South East London with a. 3 points in the bag.
What the bookies think
Last season, Millwall done the double over Stoke, scoring 3 goals and conceding 0. And for that reason, bookmakers SkyBet are backing the home side to get back to winning ways and get their season kick started. A Millwall win has been priced at 11/8 while a Stoke City win has been placed at 21/10.