Stoke City opinion: Three immediate issues for Potters to resolve

The close games Stoke were winning during the first quarter of the season have now turned into defeats.

They were decent in possession and worth a point at Watford but got nothing and again looked relatively blunt in attack.

Stoke face a couple of big home games between Christmas and New Year as they try to enter 2026 in the Championship’s top six but to do that they’ll have to solve three immediate problems.

Firstly, they’ll have to deal with what the manager Mark Robins called a changed dynamic, created by the absence of Junior Tchamadeu.

Maksym Talovierov covered for him at Vicarage Road and did ok but looked too uncomfortable leaving space behind him to offer enough to meaningfully support Stoke’s attack.

Talovierov is a centre back by trade and will come again but Tchamadeu’s absence affected the balance of the team significantly.

Secondly, they’ll need to win the first contact from crosses and set-pieces around both boxes more often to maximise their own attacking threat and eliminate a flaw that’s crept into their game at the other end, despite their status as the best defence in the division in terms of goals conceded.

Finally, they need to be more efficient in front of goal, but that is something everyone who watches Stoke regularly has been saying for a while.

At Watford, they didn’t create or take enough shooting opportunities but that is an all too regular criticism made both internally and externally.

It’s not too late for those within the building to provide the solution but it may be, profit and sustainability rules permitting, that January and the transfer window could arrive at the perfect time.