Stoke City head to the Riverside Stadium this weekend to take on Middlesbrough in their latest Championship outing.
Stoke City made the unusual decision to part ways with Steven Schumacher at the beginning of last week, raising eyebrows across the division. They have now replaced him with Narcis Pelach, the former Huddersfield Town and Norwich City number two.
The Potters’ new manager lost his debut game in charge last Friday at home against Hull City. The Tigers had not won in their previous five games before winning 3-1 at the Bet365 Stadium and returning home to East Yorkshire.
Pelach will want to see his team’s reaction, but they have a difficult test against Middlesbrough. Boro used the summer transfer window to sign Tommy Conway, Ben Doak, and Aidan Morris.
Michael Carrick’s squad is aiming for promotion to the Premier League this season and will be looking to rebound from a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light the previous time out. They are currently in 12th place in the table, three points from the play-offs.
Here are some of our writers’ predictions for the game.
Harry Mail
“Stoke City supporters will need to be patient with Pelach. He will want to change their style of play, and it will take time for his ideas to spread among the players.
“I don’t understand why they fired Schumacher, and they were quite awful against Hull City, particularly in the second half. Changing managers frequently is not a healthy practice.
“Middlesbrough has a lot more consistency, and despite losing to Sunderland, they should be confident of winning at home here. If they arrive, they will be too high-quality for the Potters.
“Carrick has been with Boro for a while now and this is a big season for him.”
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