Wolves Wanderers vs Stoke City live stream 17-12-2011
Wolves Wanderers vs Stoke City
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy is hopeful that David Edwards and Matt Jarvis will be passed fit to start after picking up minor knocks against Manchester United. Jody Craddock remains sidelined, while Kevin Foley has returned to training but is not fit enough to be considered for selection after an ankle injury.
Only Andy Wilkinson and Mamady Sidibe are missing for the visitors. Dean Whitehead and Ryan Shotton have been preferred to Rory Delap and Jermaine Pennant respectively recently and will likely start again following the victories over Tottenham and Everton.
DID YOU KNOW?
Wolves’ home form has stabilised in recent weeks, enabling them to stay outside of the bottom three. A draw against Swansea which ended a three-match losing skid in the Premier League at Molineux was followed by victories over Wigan and Sunderland.
Karl Henry, who captains Wolves, is a product of the Stoke academy. The midfielder made over 100 appearances for the Potters before joining Wolves on a free transfer in 2006. Defender Jody Craddock has also spent time on loan at the Britannia Stadium.
Wolves allow more shots at home than any other Premier League side, with an average of 16.4 efforts per match fired in Wayne Hennessey’s direction at Molineux so far this season.
Only Everton make fewer tackles per match than Wolves on their own turf. Despite the combination of these two statistics, five clubs have conceded more goals at home than Wolves this season, including Chelsea.
Wolves and Stoke have collected five points apiece in Premier League matches against each other since the former returned to the top flight under Mick McCarthy. Two home wins last season followed two draws during the previous campaign.
Plenty of crosses can be expected during Saturday’s match. Stoke’s Jermaine Pennant and Wolves’ Matthew Jarvis and Jamie O’Hara place eighth, 13th and 19th on the list of successful crosses per game by players in the major European leagues.
Stoke have turned their fortunes around as they come into this game having recorded three wins on the bounce. Prior to this run, they had lost four straight.
After those four losses, Stoke sat just one point ahead of Wolves; they have now extended the gap to seven points and climbed into the top half of the table.
Jonathan Walters (pictured right) has been Stoke’s most productive attacker in the Premier League this season, with four goals and four assists to his name during the current campaign.
Unsurprisingly, Stoke striker Peter Crouch is statistically the Premier League’s most successful header of the ball. The giant forward wins a league-leading average of 4.8 aerial duels per match.
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