Stoke City handed new promotion and relegation verdicts as they zoom past Birmingham and Ipswich

Stoke City handed new promotion and relegation verdicts as they zoom past Birmingham and Ipswich

Stoke City Raise Hopes of a Strong Season After Impressive Start

Stoke City have made a promising start to the new Championship season, collecting nine points from a possible 12. While a defeat to West Brom ended their perfect run, the early form has lifted spirits and sparked optimism that this could finally be the year they break free from a string of bottom-half finishes.

At the first international break, Mark Robins’ side find themselves sitting third in the table—a significant improvement over recent seasons.

While it’s still too soon to predict exactly where Stoke will finish come April, analytics firm Opta has revised its projections following the team’s strong start.

Prior to the season, Stoke were ranked as the 20th most likely team to achieve automatic promotion, with just a 3% chance of finishing in the top two. That figure has now risen to 7%, making them the eighth most likely side to go up—leapfrogging clubs like Ipswich, Birmingham, and Sheffield United.

Their relegation odds have also taken a positive turn. Stoke began the campaign with a 19% chance of dropping into League One, but that has now fallen sharply to just 6%.

While nothing is guaranteed, these early performances offer hope that Stoke City could finally put an end to their run of seven consecutive bottom-half finishes in the Championship.