Stoke May Settle For Draw In Ukraine

Stoke have made a great start to the season and have dealt with the duel demands of Premiership and European football well so far but now the group stage is beginning it will make life even tougher, especially with an away trip to Ukraine to take on former Champions League regulars Dynamo Kiev.

 

Stoke have no new injury problems following their win over Liverpool on Saturday which means Tony Pulis could choose to field an unchanged side from the weekend. Tony Pulis will be hoping new striker signing Peter Crouch can transfer his great Champions League scoring record to the Europa League this season. There could be a temptation to field Kenwyne Jones who has taken to this competition well so far but Jones may have to settle for a place on the bench. There should be a familar name in the Kiev team, veteran Andrei Shevchenko is likely to receive a recall to the starting line up to make use of his vast European experience.

 

Stoke are in great form and are yet to lose this season in their nine competitive matches so far this season. Dynamo Kiev are also in good form, they were quite impressive when beating Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 4-0 in their last match. Kiev will certainly be a difficult trip for Stoke but Dynamo Kiev are not the side they once were and Stoke should have more quality, but they may have to settle for a draw which would be a pretty decent starting result in this group.