“With three losses from their opening three matches, Stoke City have a problem. Their third season back in the Premier League has begun with three losses and it is only the dismal form of West Ham United that is keeping them off the bottom of the Premier League table, although there is an element of falseness about their position, since two of their three defeats have come at the hands of Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur – both matches that it might have been unreasonable to expect them to win. Still, however, there is cause for concern at The Britannia Stadium this evening that they may be set to hit the buffers. This is exactly the sort of match that they have excelled at grabbing by the scruff of the neck over the last couple of seasons, and they need to get back into that habit this evening.” (twohundredpercent)

“Next weekend West Brom fans will display a banner supporting new signing Peter Odemwingie, a reply to the racist one Lokomotiv fans hung following his transfer from Moscow. The messageboard reactions I read to it this week were perhaps typical of a lot of British fans: ‘Shame on Lokomotiv, respect to West Brom!’; ‘An intelligent answer’; ‘Brilliant, a worthy reply’. What is perhaps more surprising is that these were written by Russian fans on the championat.ru forum. However, with the 2018 World Cup hosts announced in December, and the English newspapers seemingly now all onside, this is not an element of Russian football culture that will see much daylight in the UK.” (WSC)