Stoke vs Rotherham prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-08-04 14:00.
Stoke City finished 16th in the EFL Championship last season, marking a fifth straight bottom-half finish since dropping from the Premier League. Their final points tally (53) was also their lowest in the Championship since 2002/03, so the prospects of moving back to the top tier seem slim at the start of this new campaign.
Much of the blame lies in how the Potters failed to get going at the bet365 Stadium in 2022/23 – only the now-relegated Wigan Athletic picked up fewer Championship home points than Stoke’s 23, whose total of 12 defeats was the joint-most with Queens Park Rangers. The hosts are already gunning for a reset after a huge number of incomings and outgoings, with manager Alex Neil talking about the need for a fresh start and stating: “We are in a unique situation!”
Rotherham United are in the same boat when it comes to player turnover, most notably losing Chiedozie Ogbene, who contributed to nearly a quarter of their league goals last season (G8, A4), thereby helping the club end six years of yo-yoing between the second and third tiers. It was a notable effort from manager Matt Taylor, who only took charge in October, although he was reluctant to take credit, saying that staying up was “not my achievement”, but down to the players and fans.
The Millers didn’t spend a day in the bottom three all season last term and eventually finished a commendable 19th. Any hopes of improving that record may need them to focus on their form on the road, as Rotherham had the second-lowest away points tally (17) in the league last year. Yet that included managing the most away draws (11), demonstrating them to be a stubborn opponent to most clubs, especially Stoke who they beat 1-0 here last season then later drew at home with.
Key battle: New signing Ryan Mmaee, hailed as a “technically very good” player by Stoke manager Neil, will look to build on his league contributions over the last two years (G25, A9) when playing for Hungary’s Ferencváros. The Moroccan could be in for a rude awakening to English football, however, as he comes up against Rotherham’s Viktor Johansson, who swept the club’s most recent end-of-season awards after managing 13 league clean sheets.
Hot stat: Stoke have lost seven of their last ten opening matches of a league campaign (W1, D2), failing to score in six.