Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers meet in the Championship on Saturday afternoon with just one point separating the clubs in the standings.
While the Potters currently occupy the final playoff spot, Rovers will move ahead of their hosts with victory at the bet365 Stadium.
Match preview
© Reuters
Very few sides have managed to record four successive wins in the Championship this season, and Stoke were the latest to try and fail on Wednesday evening.
Having travelled to Ashton Gate with the chance to move into third spot, the Potters ended the night in sixth position after going down by a 1-0 scoreline.
While Stoke have still collected 10 points from a possible 15, Michael O'Neill will be unhappy with five defeats coming from their last nine second-tier fixtures.
Stoke twice hit the woodwork during the setback in the South-West, but O'Neill may feel that it is time to unleash Tyrese Campbell after six substitute appearances since his recovery from a serious knee injury.
Saturday's game is the first of three against playoff rivals over the coming weeks, increasing the pressure on a team who have sometimes struggled in the final third.
© Reuters
The same cannot be said of their opponents with Blackburn adding a further four strikes to their tally in a routine victory over Peterborough United.
Ben Brereton Diaz netted a double during the win at Ewood Park, the Chile international increasing his tally for the season to 16 strikes.
Despite their efforts in front of goal, Tony Mowbray will want to see further improvements at the other end of the pitch with just four clean sheets coming from 19 matches.
Blackburn have won just two games away from home this season, a return which does not work in their favour when Stoke have succumbed just once at the bet365 Stadium.
Nevertheless, all of the momentum is with the visitors, and they will be confident of ending Saturday afternoon with a place in the top six.
- L
- D
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Stoke will be without Joe Allen for Saturday's fixture after the Welshman was sent off for two yellow cards at Bristol City.
Allen joins Sam Surridge in serving a suspension, and a reshuffle could see Josh Tymon move into midfield with Alfie Doughty starting at left wing-back.
Campbell is pushing for a chance in attack, while Ben Wilmot may come back into the back three.
Mowbray will wait to see if Daniel Ayala recovers from a minor ankle injury before naming his side for the game in the Potteries.
Jan Paul van Hecke is back from suspension so may deputise for the Spaniard, but the rest of the side should stay the same.
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Davies; Ostigard, Batth, Wilmot; Smith, Sawyers, Vrancic, Tymon, Doughty; Brown, Fletcher
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Lenihan, Van Hecke, Wharton; Nyambe, Travis, Rothwell, Pickering; Buckley; Dolan, Brereton Diaz
We say: Stoke City 1-1 Blackburn Rovers
Given their contrasting results in midweek, Blackburn will fancy their chances of all three points in the Potteries. Nevertheless, we can see Stoke getting back on track at the weekend, earning a share of the spoils in a competitive fixture.
Top tip
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Stoke City win with a probability of 41.69%. A win for Blackburn Rovers had a probability of 30.25% and a draw had a probability of 28.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Stoke City win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.62%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.33%) and 2-0 (8.02%). The likeliest Blackburn Rovers win was 0-1 (10.31%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.1%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 10.3% likelihood.
