Sky Bet Championship: Stoke v West Brom betting preview, tip & TV details

Football tips, best bets and predictions for Stoke City v West Brom in the Sky Bet Championship.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Football & Main Event, 8pm Monday

Best bet

West Brom
2pts 6-4 Betfred, Betway
Back this tip with Coral

Team news

Stoke
Peter Etebo (groin) and Tom Edwards (side strain) are doubts and Ryan Shawcross (ankle) is a long-term absentee.

West Brom
Nathan Ferguson starts a three-match ban.

Match preview

Stoke's owners finally lost patience with Nathan Jones on Friday, dismissing the 46-year-old Welshman, but the Potters' rebuilding process looks complicated and it may start with a loss to highflying West Brom at the bet365 Stadium.

Albion know that a victory will take them top of the division and they look attractively priced at odds-against.

Jones arrived at Stoke with a healthy reputation following his exploits at Luton between January 2016 and January 2019, steering the Hatters from 15th in League Two to second in League One.

However, he never got to grips with the Stoke job and finished with just six victories in 38 games.

Temporary responsibility for first-team affairs falls on the shoulders of coaching trio Kyle Russell, Rory Delap and Andy Quy, although Preston manager Alex Neil has been strongly linked with the vacancy and was trading at odds-on over the weekend.

Whoever gets the job faces a huge challenge because Stoke, despite possessing one of the bigger budgets in the division, are at obvious risk of relegation.

Weekend results left them six points adrift of safety and the pre-Christmas schedule could be vital because five of their next nine games are against the rest of the bottom six.

Getting a result against West Brom would give them a much-needed confidence boost before Saturday's trip to second-bottom Barnsley, but it looks easier said than done.

West Brom are the second-highest scorers in Championship with 26 goals and have maintained their potency despite the departures of Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez, who topped their 2018-19 scoring charts with league tallies of 23 and 22.

It was crucial that the Baggies got their summer recruitment right and they must be delighted by the performances of Sporting loanee Matheus Pereira and Grady Diangana, who is on loan from West Ham.

Albion manager Slaven Bilic knew Diangana from his time in charge of West Ham and the winger has contributed four goals and three assists this season.

However, he has been outshone by classy attacking midfielder Pereira, who has provided three goals and six assists – the joint-highest in the division alongside Bristol City's Niclas Eliasson.

Powerful winger Matt Phillips and striker Charlie Austin are other key members of Albion's first-choice attacking unit which functions at its best when opposing teams leave space in behind.

It would perhaps make sense for Stoke to sit in and play cautiously but clean sheets have been a rarity for the Potters – just two in 14 league games this season – and a shutout against West Brom looks unlikely.

Albion will probably strike the first blow and should go on to register their eighth league win of the campaign.