Stoke v Rotherham

Stoke vs Rotherham Preview

This Saturday also features this upcoming clash between Stoke City and Rotherham United who were languishing in the lower half of the division at the end of last season with Stoke City especially, producing another lacklustre campaign in the English second tier as The Potters finished a disappointing 16th place in the Championship standings.

Stoke City ended last season with a whimper rather than a bang as they failed to win any of their final seven games of the campaign which included being dealt no fewer than five defeats in the process, suffering losses to Bristol City, West Brom, Wigan Athletic, QPR and Watford, so Stoke manager, Alex Neil, will be under early pressure to deliver a positive start to this new season.

In addition, Stoke City lost their last four home games on the trot at the end of the previous campaign and having managed to register just three wins from the start of the new year through to the end of April out of a total of 11 home games, the omens do not look too good for The Potters in this opening game of the season.

Finishing three league places and six points above the relegation zone represented positive progress for Saturday's visitors, Rotherham United, as The Millers successfully managed to stave off the threat of the drop last time around and the Yorkshire club will now head into this campaign cautiously confident that they can repeat that feat this season as well.

However, having won nine of their total of 11 wins last season on home soil, Rotherham United know they must produce a better return on the road this season if they're to continue to avoid relegation dramas this term, but they'll take heart from their impressive 1-0 home win against high-flying Middlesbrough towards the end of last season.

Rotherham managed to muster only two away wins throughout the whole of last season's Championship campaign but interestingly, one of these victories was against Saturday's hosts, Stoke City, at the bet365 Stadium back in mid-October which saw The Millers grab a 1-0 win, so the visitors have previous against The Potters!

Stoke City v Rotherham United Verdict Both Stoke City and Rotherham United have achieved just the one win each out of their previous six meetings with the other four games ending in various different stalemates, but with such a level history in recent exchanges, Rotherham United's price for an away win here looks particularly generous, especially as The Millers recorded a 1-0 win in their last visit to the bet365 Stadium.

A narrow 1-0 win for Rotherham looks as good an option as any in this opening clash.

Therefore, our main bet will be Rotherham United win @ 3.10

Other side bets worth considering:

Rotherham United win & Under 2.5 goals @ 10.00

Correct score: Rotherham United 1-0 @ 13.00