Stoke’s slow start to the season has certainly surprised many pundits given their impressive performances under Mark Hughes in previous seasons.
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The Spanish ace had just started to be Stoke’s star performer last season and scored the victor against Leicester at the King Power Stadium before picking up a knee injury which has kept him out of action for eight months.
The 25-year-old ex-Barcelona and Roma forward last began a Barclays Premier League game in January, when he got the victor against Leicester, who visit the Britannia Stadium on Saturday. He came on to the pitch which we were delighted about and it was one of the positives from a poor day against Arsenal.
“He’s been desperate to play for about five weeks, but understands I won’t pick him on merit, but on whether he’s ready to make the impact he did prior to the injury”.
It was another example of the progress made by Claudio Ranieri, who has already silenced the majority of his critics after replacing Nigel Pearson in the summer.
If you asked me at the start of the season where these two teams would be now, I’d say they’d be the other way around. I just can’t do it.
Bojan’s return may not address the deficiencies left by the losses of Nzonzi and Shawcross, but his match-winning ability could be the kick-start Stoke need.
A series of stupendous saves from the England global preserved a point at Norwich City, while only his contribution prevented a defeat by an embarrassing margin at Arsenal in their last game.
The Foxes have won three and drawn two of their five league games, and they now sit just two points behind leaders Manchester City, but nearly inevitably, the feeling is that this run will not last forever as they mix it with the sides looking to qualify for the Champions League.
These two sides have only met twice in the Premier League, with both results ending in a 1-0 win for the team playing away.
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Saying that, I can’t go against Stoke at home. Leicester have been outstanding, and it is all about that boy Riyad Mahrez.
