Stoke City v Wolves Betting Tips: Punters shouldn’t discount Championship side

On the face of it, this Midlands derby between Premier League Stoke City and Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers looks to be going only one way. However, if there’s one thing the FA Cup delivers time and time again it’s shock results. We may just see one here.

Stoke have been the model for many recently-promoted clubs for a number of years in the way they have made themselves a fixture in the Premier League. However, they have been rather wobbly this season and currently sit in 11th following yet another bad patch which has seen them yield just one win in six matches.

The Potters can look good going forward as shown by the fact they have scored in each of their last four games. However, despite keeping a clean sheet in their win over Watford last weekend, the defence has been a problem for Mark Hughes’ team with 32 goals against overall – the second worst inside the top 12 – and a huge 13 conceded in their last six matches – an average of more than two per game.

Stoke have always had a reputation of being excellent at home but it seems that this has waned slightly under the stewardship of Welshman Hughes. The Potters currently only have the 12th best home record in the league having lost three and conceded 13 in 10 matches. Compare this to previous seasons when they have been inside the top seven when it comes to home form. 

Championship side Wolves had been just one place above the relegation places a couple of weeks ago but now, thanks to a good run, they have lifted themselves up to 16th and five points above the drop-zone.

Paul Lambert’s side do pose a threat upfront as shown by the fact they have scored in six of their last seven Championship matches and have found the back of the net 32 times in 25 league matches – more than quite a few sides above them, including fourth-place Huddersfield.

Of course their rather dodgy defence has been letting them down with 34 conceded but Lambert will be pleased that they are showing signs of improvement at the back with two clean sheets in their last four games.

Strangely, Wolves have been much better on the road than they have at their home ground of Molineux having suffered just one defeat in their last six away matches whilst their away record is the 10th best in the Championship and even above top six side Sheffield Wednesday. Furthermore, they have lost just two away matches in the FA Cup in six attempts.

As mentioned earlier, I think we could see an upset here given the opposing form. Wolves offer a significant attacking threat and if Stoke are quite firing, which they haven’t really been doing of late and therefore ‘Wolverhampton Wanderers Draw No Bet’, at 10/3, looks a fantastic bet, especially given the security it gives you with that fallback option on the draw.

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