The form tables have started to take shape now that we’ve played 5 league games, however, looking at the respective results in the main title, it should perhaps be called the “form” table. Stoke have at least mustered a couple of wins, although that seemingly wasn’t enough for former Tiger and now Sporting Director at Stoke, Jon Walters, who decided to take action and fire Steven Schumacher earlier this week. In a similarly decisive fashion, a new manager has already been appointed; young Catalan coach Narcís Pèlach. That Stoke are on their 3rd permanent manager since I wrote a preview for this fixture only one year ago when Alex Neil was their boss, shows how unstable things have been over in Staffordshire.

Many rivalries are local; our last two fixtures being good examples. Some develop due to circumstance. When Phil Brown took City to the promised land for the first ever time back in 2008, another unfancied and unfashionable side came up with us – The Potters. Perhaps a rivalry was borne out of competing to be everyone’s favourite second team. The fancied underdog. The inspiring minnows. Whatever the reason, you only need to spend some time on the fans’ forums of either side to know that there is no love lost between the two sides. The M62 clasico it may not be, but I think there’ll be a fiery atmosphere on Friday night underneath the floodlights.

It's difficult to predict what we’ll see from Stoke. The new manager is a true rookie. The only stats I could find from him go back to his time CF Peralada back in 2018 when he was a young, 30-year-old manager. Playing in the 3rd tier of Spanish football, Pèlach favoured a 4-3-3 attacking style of football which resulted in a points average of 1.30 from his 50+ games in charge. Since then, he’s mainly worked in assistant roles. As for the squad, despite winning 2 matches in the league, the Potters have only scored 3 goals. The brilliantly named Millon Manhoef has been involved in all 3 of those goals, as well as scoring twice in 7 minutes off the bench in the 5-0 hammering of Middlesborough in the cup. The Dutch winger therefore looks like the main threat. Former City target Tom Cannon will lead the line and is likely to get a hostile reception from the visiting fans.

As for Tim Walter’s men, apart from the ongoing injuries to Sinik and Longman, it looks like being a near full-strength team. Charlie Hughes hinted at an injury on Twitter and looks to have had some minor surgery. It’s unlikely that he’ll be fit in time to make his long-awaited debut. New free-transfer signing Steven Alzate is also unlikely to be match fit. Having recovered from their long-distance travels over the international break, Palmer and Millar will both be pushing for starts. Given the danger posed by right-winger Manhoef, it’s unknown whether Walter will entrust the more attacking Ryan Giles, especially away from home. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Drameh step in at left-back. You feel that if new keeper Carl Rushworth is going to play a part this season, he’ll start against Stoke. Last week’s absence was explained away as a result of a bruise, and the on-loan stopper will be wanting to continue his development as soon as possible. Following 3 successful loans in previous seasons which have resulted in him winning multiple ‘player-of-the-season’ awards, Rushworth will be expecting to start regularly for the Tigers.

A difficult one to predict. Playing away from home might actually be a blessing for Tim Walter as the atmosphere around the MKM isn’t exactly positive at the moment. A good win here would surely improve the mood in time for the visit of bottom-side Cardiff on the 28th though, and 6 points from these two winnable fixtures would see City shooting up the league and maybe kick-start the season. However, should our German boss still be searching for his first win come the end of the month, even the most rose-tinted supporter would start to worry. Tim looked very frustrated at times last Friday night, and Acun and Mrs Acun didn’t exactly look like two people enjoying their honeymoon! With unsubstantiated reports coming in about players not enjoying training, and a heavy squad to try and keep happy, things could turn sour quickly. Personally, I don’t think changing managers 2-3 times a season is productive, as our hosts are evidence of. I prefer to keep positive and predict not only a win on Friday night, but another against Cardiff and us sat in mid-table by October.

Prediction: Stoke 0 – 1 Hull City

Line up: Rushworth; Coyle, Jones, Macca, Drameh; Zambrano, Mehlem, Omur, Millar, Belloumi, Bedia.