For the first time in years, I’m writing a pre-match preview with a sense of positivity and with a prediction of a win that I genuinely believe in. Of course, it’s easy to be optimistic after such a convincing win, away, against one of the best teams in the league. However, Saturday’s opponents’ own circumstances are cause for optimism.

Whilst the two sides are only separated by goal difference, City’s arrival on 29 points has come following an upturn in form, whereas the Potters are yet to win in the league this year. Mark Robins’ boys are beneath us in the league chiefly as a result of scoring fewer goals, and to compound that issue for our visitors, 11 of their 26 goals in the league this season were scored by Tom Cannon, who has since departed for Sheff Utd. This leaves Million Manhoef as the current top scorer with 5 goals, and the winger is set to miss out through injury. Since Cannon’s departure, Nathan Lowe has started up top for Stoke. The frontman managed 20 goal involvements on loan in League Two before being recalled which is an impressive total. Whether he can produce at this level is another matter however. Iraqi Al-Hamadi has since joined on loan from Ipswich which will help bolster their attack, but his most productive season was also at League Two level when he played for AFC Wimbledon, so we’re unlikely to face any goal threat proven at this level. Stoke’s away haul of 10 points puts them in the bottom 6 in the league, and they’ve only managed 8 goals in the 14 games it’s taken them to reach that points total (and that was with Tom Cannon).

If you were waiting for a ‘but’ then here it comes: Stoke are somewhat of a bogey team. Having won their last 3 visits to the MKM without conceding a goal, they also arrive in the knowledge that they’re facing comfortably the worst home team in the league. City’s 12 points from 15 games is easily the poorest record, 6 points behind the team in 23rd place, Plymouth, who have 18 points from 1 fewer match. That’s surely due to change soon with the upturn in fortunes since Selles arrived, and with some astute arrivals so far in January, the Tigers now have more tools at their disposal to keep them safe this year. Of the new arrivals, Matt Crooks and Louie Barry stand out as most noteworthy for this fixture. Barry left Stockport at the start of January as League One’s top scorer with 15 goals, and while it’s also a step up in quality in the Championship, having read the comments of Aston Villa fans who think he should be given a chance in the Premier League, I think he will have the ability to make an immediate impact. The youngster, who is no relation to Villa legend Gareth Barry, holds the honour of being the first ever Englishman to sign for Barcelona’s famed ‘La Masia’ academy, so has a great pedigree. Meanwhile, Matt Crooks has 5 goals in 7 games against Stoke, so they’re clearly a favoured opponent of his.

Anything can happen in this league, so all the above stats and trends could count for nothing. Our own previous match showed that as we faced a team that had won 10 out of 13 at home before we gave them a good mauling. However, as much as you can predict anything in life, I’m fairly confident of a home victory and will be even putting my money where my mouth is with a small bet on the following:

Score Prediction: Hull City 2 (Crooks, Barry) – Stoke City 0

Likely line-up:
Pandur; Drameh, Burns, Jones, McLoughlin; Alzate, Slater, Crooks; Kamara, Joseph, Gelhardt