Well, I thought it'd be better to discuss Stoke's European football all in one thread (otherwise it'd be really mixed up). So off we go. After a nice start, Stoke look ahead in their Europa League to face off against Maccabi Tel-Aviv. It'll obviously be an advantage to play at home, as Stoke will, because of how hard it'll be to pllay in the weather in Isarel has. This match will be succeeding Stoke's 2-1 victory over Besiktas, a nice and surprising victory indeed. Currenlty, Stoke City are top of their group with four points (a draw and a win). Now here's my prediction of how the match will end up - Stoke City 1-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Now, here's something else I expect from Stoke (the line-up): Sorenson Shotton - - - - Upson - - Huth - - - - Shawcross Pennant - - - - - - - - Palacios - - - - Delap - - - - - - - - Etherington Jerome - - - - - - - - - Crouch Anyone else willing to give their comments?
Thus far, Stoke has played four matches in EL 2011-12 and here are the results of their matches: Sept. 15 (A) - Stoke City 1-1 Dynamo Kyiv Sept. 29 (H) - Dynamo Kyiv 2-1 Besiktas Oct. 20 (H) - Stoke City 3-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv Nov. 3 (A) - Stoke City 2-1 Maccabi Tel-Aviv So, obviously, Stoke have done well up until now. They have two matches in the group stage remaining, against Dynamo Kyiv and Besiktas home and away respectively. I expect two wins from Stoke to finish off their group stage efforts, getting them into the EL Round of 32. A win or a draw and and a Besiktas loss/draw on the next matchday would be needed for an advancement into the next round. The current table of Stoke's group looks like this (the top two of the group progress to the EL Round of 32) - 1) Stoke City - 10 points 2) Besiktas - 6 points 3) Dynamo Kyiv - 5 points 4) Maccabi Tel-Aviv - 1 point
So, Stoke City finished second to Besktas in the group stage, which was good enough to qualify for the play-offs. Stoke drew Valencia for their play-off, a team who just came out of the CL as the third placed team in their group. I see decent chance for Stoke to advance, but they'll have to play their "A" game if they want to succeed here. I expect - 1st Leg (@ Stoke City) Stoke City 1-0 Valencia 2nd Leg (@ Valencia) Valenica 1-1(p) Stoke City If the above happened, it'd be great for Stoke. They could improve their fanbase, attraction for other players because of success in EL, etc.