Stoke vs Swansea predictions: Brace yourself for gloomy stalemate
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- Stoke lost 2-0 at Bristol City on Wednesday night
- Swansea were beaten 1-0 at home by Sheffield Wednesday on the same evening
- Recommended bet: Draw
Stoke are struggling to pull clear of the Championship relegation places and Swansea are being dragged back towards them, which makes their meeting at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday a big deal.
Team news
Stoke boss Mark Robins experimented with a 3-5-2 set-up at Bristol City which did not come off. He is missing two left-backs — Eric Bocat and Enda Stevens — plus a number of other first-teamers.
Lewis Koumas should be well enough to start though top scorer Andrew Moran and frontmen Sam Gallagher and Million Manhoef still appear to be unavailable.
Kristian Pedersen and Joe Allen look to be the only absentees for Swansea, though coach Luke Williams will surely make changes after Wednesday night's anaemic 1-0 home loss to Sheffield Wednesday.
The stats
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Stoke have won one of their last nine home games in all competitions and both of their last two league games at the bet365 Stadium have ended 0-0.
The Potters are the Championship's lowest scorers with 28 goals in 31 games.
Stoke have drawn six of their last nine games in all competitions, while these two played out a 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture in October.
Swansea have lost six of their last seven matches in all competitions.
The Swans have scored 22 first-half goals out of a total of 33 goals (66%).
Prediction
There will be no feelgood factor at the bet365 Stadium, just a swell of anxiety, as strugglers Stoke and Swansea strive to find a rare win.
The Potters have only two 90-minute wins since the start of November and will be jaded after a gruelling FA Cup exit against Cardiff a week ago followed by a gloomy 2-0 loss at Bristol City.
Ashton Gate was where Swansea won last weekend - a 1-0 success - but that is the only crumb of comfort in a seven-game run in which the other six results have all been losses.
These are two teams low on confidence, short on goals and hard to fancy and the sense is that this potential low-scorer could well end all-square.
Mark Robins has certainly lifted spirits at Stoke after Narcis Pelach's exit. His eight games in charge have seen them lose just twice, but also win only once.
Tom Cannon, their nine-goal top scorer — and bear in mind they have only scored 28 — is no longer at the club and Stoke are struggling to convert chances.
In the other camp, in nine games in 2025 Swansea have scored only four goals and never more than one in a game. Fans are frustrated with a slow-paced game which is struggling to upset opponents.
It is very hard to fancy either of these underwhelming outfits and odds of 7/10 under 2.5 goals with LiveScore Bet are telling. The draw at bigger odds is the preferred option.
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