Stoke vs Sheffield Wednesday predictions: Potters can pick up a vital victory
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- Stoke are on a four-match unbeaten run
- Sheffield Wednesday have taken just two points from their last five games
- Recommended bet: Stoke to win
Friday's match in the Potteries means more to Stoke than Sheffield Wednesday and the home side look capable of providing a major boost for their survival campaign by winning back-to-back league games for only the second time this season.
Stoke won 1-0 in Cardiff thanks to a late own goal last Saturday and their third win in six games came at just the right time to push them five points clear of the bottom three with four matches left.
With top teams Leeds and Sheffield United up next, the Potters will not want to miss this opportunity to kick clear of trouble to avoid frayed nerves in the final weeks of the season.
Wednesday are six points and four places better off than Stoke but crucially 11 points above the relegation zone and just about safe already.
The Owls won 2-0 when the teams met at Hillsborough in December, but Stoke were in poor shape at the time, and that was the eighth match in an eventual nine-match winless run.
Team news
Ali Al-Hamadi could retain his place up front for Stoke after coming in for Sam Gallagher against Cardiff, while Ben Gibson should be able to return after missing that match due to illness.
Enda Stevens, Michael Rose, Josh Wilson-Esbrand and Sol Sidibe have been ruled out owing to injuries.
Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Barry Bannan has missed the last two matches with an ankle injury and is a doubt, while defenders Di'Shon Bernard and Max Lowe are set to miss the rest of the season due to injuries.
Teenager Pierce Charles has been starting ahead of the more experienced James Beadle in goal and youngster Charlie McNeill could get more game-time after a substitute appearance against Oxford.
The stats
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Stoke have lost only five of their 21 home league matches this season.
The Potters have been beaten just once in 90 minutes in their last 10 home league and cup matches.
Five of Stoke's last six matches have produced under 2.5 goals.
Sheffield Wednesday have lost six of their last 10 games.
Four of Wednesday's last five league matches have ended with under 2.5 goals.
The Owls have lost three of their last five league matches 1-0.
Seven of the last eight meetings between these teams have produced under 2.5 goals.
Prediction
Sheffield Wednesday were eighth in the Championship just 10 matches ago but their form has quickly tailed off after they fell away from play-off contention.
The Owls head to Stoke on a poor run of two draws and three defeats in their last five games and appear to be a classic example of a mid-table team who may be vulnerable to sides with more riding on their matches.
That was the case when Wednesday lost 1-0 to Oxford last time out and they have also failed to beat relegation-threatened Cardiff (1-1) and Hull (lost 1-0) in their current winless run.
Manager Danny Rohl, who has been linked with the vacancy at Southampton, has taken the chance to give opportunities to some of his youngsters, with forward Charlie McNeill making his first appearance since December in the Oxford game, and any lack of intensity by the visitors should be punished by a hungry Stoke side.
A large crowd is expected for this key fixture and the atmosphere could be lively at the end if Stoke have secured three valuable points.
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