It’s a new year and in English football, that means one thing: it’s time for the third round of the FA Cup to get underway. The oldest club competition in the world is ready to welcome the big boys as we continue on the long road to Wembley. Today, we’ll be taking a look at what should be an exciting clash between Stoke City and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Stoke Form GuideIt’s been a while since we’ve seen Stoke City in the top flight and these days, we’d say they’re more concerned about the threat of slipping down into the third tier. The memories of European football are long gone and although there’s still a solid infrastructure in place at the club, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of hope within the fanbase, and that’s a real shame.
The Potters have turned into draw specialists recently with five in their last six against Swansea, West Brom, Millwall, Watford and Ipswich. They did, however, also manage to register a solid 3-1 win on the road against Birmingham in the second city.
Brighton Form GuideBrighton & Hove Albion have been one of the Premier League’s surprise packages over the course of the last few years. Now, the big question is whether or not they can sustain their success, especially now that they have to juggle the Europa League alongside their domestic duties. They’ve had good times in the FA Cup as of late, too, and it’ll be interesting to see if they can replicate that.
After a 1-1 draw with Burnley, Brighton edged out a nice 1-0 win over Marseille in the Europa League. They did go on to lose 2-0 to Arsenal but they haven’t been beaten since, registering draws against Crystal Palace and West Ham as well as a lovely 4-2 win at home to Tottenham.
Match PredictionIt’s becoming more and more difficult to generate an atmosphere at Stoke’s ground and despite the imminent visit of a Premier League club, we don’t think that’s going to change. We’re going to predict a Brighton win here, and the hosts probably won’t have much to say about it.
