Our prediction for this Championship match:
St. Andrew’s Stadium will host Monday’s football game between Birmingham City and Stoke City, the two teams who are almost level on points in the MLS standings. The Blues are eight points clear of the relegation zone, meaning that their Championship status is not in danger, but boss John Eustace must warn his men against complacency. Experienced centre-forward Lukas Jutkiewicz should keep his place up front after finding the net in a 1-1 draw with Reading, while all Gardner, Placheta, Campbell, Williams, Deeney, and Sanderson remain in the recovery room.
The Potters, on the other hand, aim to recover from a 2-1 loss to Bristol City, but seeing that they would be happy with one point from Monday’s clash, we are tempted to put our money on draw. There are no fresh injury worries in the visiting team ahead of the trip to Birmingham.
Highlighted Player (George Friend):
George Friend has played for no less than nine English clubs so far in his career. Friend made his first-team debut for non-League club Exeter City on April 17, 2006 in a goalless draw with Forest Green Rovers and he stayed at St James Park until 2008. After ending his loan spells with Tiverton Town and Team Bath he joined Wolverhampton, but he made no more than seven appearances for the Wolves in the league.
The 188-cm-tall left-back, who is capable of playing as a centre-back as well, played for the likes of Millwall, Southend, Scunthorpe United and Exeter City on loan during his spell with Wolverhampton and at the end of the 2009/2010 season he signed a two-year deal with Doncaster Rovers. Friend made his Doncaster debut on August 7, 2010 in a 2-0 win over Preston and after three years at the club he was sold to Middlesbrough for a fee of £100,000.
The left-footed defender has been playing for Boro ever since and you should know that he made 24 appearances for the club in the 2016/2017 Premier League campaign.
Highlighted Team (Stoke City):
Stoke City FC (named Stoke FC until 1925) is an English football club from the city Stoke-on-Trent (located in the north of England). De club was founded in the year 1863 and next to Notts County FC the club from Stoke is the oldest professional football club worldwide. Different signs of Stoke City show that the club is founded in 1868. Currently Stoke City is playing in the Premier League. The home games of Stoke City are hosted in the Britannia Stadium which holds a capacity for 29 000 spectators.
The most known nickname of Stoke City FC is the Potters. The main club colors of the club are red and white. The away it is colored in blue. The only 3 prizes Stoke City managed to win so far are the League Cup in 1972 and the Football League Trophy twice (1992 and 2000). Famous players that played for Stoke City FC are: Ameobi, Gudjohnsen and Peter Crouch.