Stoke City and Millwall square off at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with both clubs desperately requiring wins to move away from the Championship relegation zone.

As it stands, the teams sit in 19th and 20th position in the standings respectively, both within a defeat of possibly dropping into the bottom three.

Match preview

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Having had a number of viable British options in front of them, Stoke officials made the decision to appoint Plymouth Argyle boss Steven Schumacher as their new manager earlier this week.

Schumacher is no stranger to the area having graduated from the near-by Staffordshire University with a degree in professional sports journalism and broadcasting, the familiarity to the city an obvious factor.

However, taking on the reins at the Potters is viewed as the natural step-up having won League One with Plymouth and kept them outside of the relegation zone in the second tier.

That will be Schumacher's primary task at Stoke as his new side have gone eight matches without success, but they have at least claimed draws against Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion in consecutive games.

A perfect start versus Millwall at the weekend may be all that is needed to kick-start their campaign, yet defeat would heap all kinds of pressure on the new boss.

Millwall sit just one point below Stoke in the standings and Joe Edwards - another recent managerial appointment - needs a win to ease the pressure on his own shoulders.

The former Chelsea coach has accumulated just five points from seven games, with the current winless streak being six matches after his side let slip a lead against rivals Huddersfield Town.

They had been on course to win 1-0 before they conceded a last-gasp penalty to the 22nd-placed team, although Millwall did at least make it successive games at The Den without defeat.

Nevertheless, even though the East Londoners still possess the 11th-best away record in the division, three successive defeats have been posted on their travels.

Team News

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The Stoke starting lineup is somewhat of an unknown due to the recent nature of Schumacher's arrival in the Potteries.

However, such was the level of their performance at West Brom that the same starting lineup may be selected, with Andre Vidigal most likely to come into the final third.

Ben Pearson serves the second game of his two-match ban for already accumulating 10 yellow cards this season.

Meanwhile, Millwall had been on course for maximum points against the Terriers until George Saville was penalised for handball inside the penalty area.

If a change is made to the starting lineup, either Joe Bryan or Duncan Watmore could be recalled at left-back or in the final third.

Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Bonham; Hoever, McNally, Rose, Thompson; Laurent, Burger; Gooch, Jun-Ho, Johnson; Mmaee

Millwall possible starting lineup:
Sarkic; Leonard, Harding, Cooper; Norton-Cuffy, Saville, Mitchell, Wallace; Flemming; Bradshaw, Nisbet

We say: Stoke City 2-1 Millwall

With Schumacher now at the helm, Stoke need a fast start under his leadership. We expect Millwall to push them all the way, yet the Potters may edge this contest through desire alone, securing an important three points.


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