Stoke City will welcome Barnsley to the bet365 Stadium on Wednesday, looking to make it six consecutive home wins in all competitions this season.
Barnsley have struggled to find the form of last season that saw them reach the playoffs and the visitors are still looking for their first away win of the season.
Match preview
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Michael O'Neill will be pleased with how his Stoke side have started the season, as their six games have resulted in four wins, and their only league defeat came in an away trip to Fulham.
The Potters are into their fourth Championship season since relegation from the Premier League in 2018, and the squad looks well equipped to mount a promotion charge this campaign.
Stoke mounted a comeback in their last outing after going behind against Huddersfield, but a Jacob Brown goal and an own goal from Matty Pearson was enough to ensure the Potters made it 13 points from their opening six fixtures.
The hosts will be aiming to win four consecutive home league games, something they have not achieved since April 2014, and they will be confident against Barnsley - a team they have only lost once to in their last eight home fixtures.
Furthermore, Stoke have scored six goals across their three home league games, so will be confident they can find the net once again against Barnsley, especially as they have scored six goals in their last two home games against the Tykes.
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Meanwhile, Barnsley's start to the season has failed to match last season's form that saw the Tykes finish fifth, which secured a playoff place, and so far this season relegation seems the prime concern rather than promotion.
Last season's head coach Valerien Ismael left in the summer to take over the helm at West Brom, and new Barnsley boss Markus Schopp has found it tough going to replicate his predecessor with his side only winning one league game so far this term.
Disappointingly, the side from Oakwell suffered their heaviest defeat of the season at the weekend as Scott Parker's Bournemouth side demolished the Tykes 3-0 at the Vitality Stadium.
Another worrying aspect of Barnsley's season so far is that they have failed to collect a league win on the road, but on a brighter note their three league away games did result in two draws.
Positively, the visitors can take confidence from their last meeting with Wednesday's opponents when they won 2-0 at home against Stoke in February 2021.
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Team News
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Tyrese Campbell and Tashan Oakley-Boothe are on their way back from injury, although the Barnsley fixture will come too soon for the pair.
Nick Powell is coming back from a thigh problem but is unlikely to feature on Wednesday and new loan signing Abdallah Sima is still waiting to make his debut, though he is more likely to feature on Saturday against Derby County after spending the last few days in Paris due to Visa issues.
Wales international Joe Allen could start in this contest after coming off the bench against Huddersfield in Stoke's previous fixture.
Barnsley have numerous injury concerns with Jordan Williams, Mads Andersen and Carlton Morris all missing through injury for the visitors.
Ben Williams suffered an injury in the first period against Bournemouth, and could be replaced by Claudio Gomes in the starting lineup.
Liam Kitching is also absent as he currently serves a three-match suspension after being involved in an altercation against Birmingham.
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Bursik; Ostigard, Souttar, Wilmot; Smith, Allen, Sawyers, Vrancic, Tymon; Brown, Surridge
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Collins, Halme, Helik, Sibbick; Brittain, Palmer, Styles, Gomes; Frieser, Leya, Woodrow
We say: Stoke City 3-1 Barnsley
Stoke have conceded in two of their opening three home league games, although they should be strong enough to prevail in this contest to continue their impressive start to the season.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Stoke City win with a probability of 46.57%. A draw had a probability of 28.5% and a win for Barnsley had a probability of 24.89%.
The most likely scoreline for a Stoke City win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.93%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.68%) and 2-1 (8.37%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.91%), while for a Barnsley win it was 0-1 (9.97%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.9% likelihood.
