Stoke Carling Cup Preview - Opposition Fan View, Pub Ammo & Team News

Stoke away in the Carling Cup third round it is. Only two days after our last match. That is ridiculous isn't it?! Trip to Greece on Thursday, Cheeky win over Liverpool on Sunday, off to Stoke on the Tuesday. It's the same for Stoke, they've had a Thursday, Sunday, Tuesday fiasco going on as well. So are we expecting a second sting side from both teams with all 22 players content not to get hurt, play out a 0-0 bore draw whilst at the same time failing to be good enough to make a stake for a first team start? Or will we see reasonably strong sides, both trying to win the match, win a trophy and give us something entertaining to watch? I think it'll be somewhere between the two. With Tony Pulis putting out a strong side and Redknapp putting out the young and infirm.

As a fan brought up in the "Sky Sports" era supporting a premier league club, I sometimes wonder what it was like when football clubs didn't take your money for a half arsed team and performance, and instead tried to entertain the fans and win every single match. That's not to say I don't personally think success in the league is important and ultimately what will take us forward, but I digress, this is a debate for another day...

Opposition Fan View
Half the Stoke fans don't care for the Carling cup and expect and want to see a weakened side so they can rest up for the Man U on the weekend and future Premier and Europa leagues. The other half have noted that on previous occasions, should a team play badly in the league before a cup game, Tony Pulis sticks a rocket up their arse and throws them back into the mixer, so expect and want Stoke to field something near a full strength team. They'll be looking for a win over our second stringers to boost their confidence and get them back into winning ways before Man U. Plus, it'll get them back into the Europa league if they win it. The result, they say, is very much dependent on what sort of team we put out. If we go with a Europa league third string squad, its a Stoke win. If we go for a second string half strength team, its a Spurs win.
Stoke Fans Verdict: Stoke Win 25%, Draw 15%, Spurs Win 60%

Pub Ammo
-This is the first ever meeting between the two sides in the competition.
-Spurs have won their last two games at the Britannia Stadium by 2-1.
-Stokes win against Fulham in the third round last season was the first time they had beaten a top-flight side in the League Cup in 10 years.
-Spurs have only failed to make the quarter-finals twice in the last eight seasons.
-League Cup Titles: Stoke - 1. Spurs - 4.

Spurs Team News

If anything, we'll get to see
Sandro's new haircut...

Dawson, Rose, Pienaar, Huddlestone and Lennon are still injured and according to official sources, Sandro and Gallas could both make their first appearance this season. Which would be nice, but they shouldn't be rushed back only to get injured again. From Redknapp: "We could have Sandro and William Gallas back, Pav needs another game, van der Vaart is back, Gomes, Bassong, Corluka - that's not a bad team, is it?"  Not a bad team for a seven a side match no. Only joking, I know what he meant. He meant to say "We've got a mix of tosh, half injured players and the Europa Kids ready for Stoke."

Gomes

Corluka   Gallas   Bassong   Townsend

Dos Santos   Sandro   Livermore   Falque

VDV

Pav

I expect at some point that Gallas, Sandro and VDV will be taken off and replaced with some of the other Europa Kids, or they'll start with kids and Gallas, Sandro and VDV will get 30 minutes to win the game at the end. My prediction is very much the same as the Stoke fans. Assuming we play a team similar to the one mentioned above, if they put out a second string team, it's ours, if they put out their first team, they'll be the ones advancing to the next round. Ultimately it'll come down to what manager wants to risk the most of his first teamers. We shall see.

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