UEFA Europa League Group Stage, Matchday 2 Stoke City FC vs. Besiktas JK A special European night ahead for the Potters as they host 13-time Turkish champions Besiktas at the Britannia looking to take leadership of the group. Besiktas' last visit to England ended in a shock 1-0 win away to Manchester United in a Champions League group stage match two seasons ago, all be it with United fielding an understrength lineup with them already through. Almost an entire week to prepare for this match after yesterday's memorable result against Manchester United which means the players can get a bit off of their tired legs. Palacios, Huth, and Jerome are likely to start this time around. I'd like to see this against BJK Sorensen Shotton - Upson - Shawcross - Huth Pennant - Delap - Palacios - Etherington Jerome - Crouch Bring on the likes of Whelan, Wilkinson, and Walters perhaps in the second half, depending on what the score is. Hopefully we get another top result in this one.
After this 1-1 with Man United, I know the Stoke City players will be pumped up and confident. They'll certainly fight for the full three points, which would really help after one point against Dynamo Kyiv. I wouldn't be surprised if the game ended as a draw, though, and low-scoring too. I'll go with this prediction/scoreline - Stoke City 1-1 Besiktas I'll be watching Sorenson in the game, specifically, to see how he can follow up his previous Europa League peformance. I'll also look to see how the Stoke defense does, I really hope they don't give up as many chances as they did versus Dynamo Kyiv. Now for my lineup - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sorenson - - - - - - - - - Shotton - - - - - - - - Upson - - - - - - - - - - - - Huth - - - - - - - - - - Shawcross - - - - - - - - - - - Pennant - - - - - - - - Delap - - - - - - - - Palacios - - - - - - - - Etherington - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Jones - - - - - - - Crouch Anyways, good luck to all the Stoke fans out there.
Wow, what a win for Stoke tonight. Really proud of this team, they could go through this group now in my opinion.
Amazing victory here for Stoke, placing them at the head spot of their group. Highlights and goals - [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpVtn4NX2po"]Stoke city vs Besiktas 2-1 - All Goals & Highlights - Europa League [11.09.2011] - YouTube[/ame]
