Stoke City begin their 2022/23 campaign against Millwall this coming weekend, as Michael O’Neill aims to get the club’s season off to a decent start at a tough place. 

After last season’s early promise, things drifted quite quickly for Stoke under O’Neill and they finished 21/22 in mid-table.

The need for a positive start this season, then, is hugely important for the Potters.

Judging by Stoke’s latest pre-season friendly against Hearts - a game that ended in defeat - we’ve outlined the XI that we expect O’Neill to kick things off with at Millwall.

The final game of pre-season is often the time to roll out the side you’ve got in mind, which is reflected above.

Joe Bursik should start the season in goal, whilst Ben Wilmot, Phil Jagielka and Connor Taylor look like they could be the defensive unit ahead of him, despite the presence of Morgan Fox and Aden Flint.

Josh Tymon and Harry Clarke appear certainties to feature at wing-back, providing width in the 5-3-2 system.

There’s more for O’Neill to weigh up in the middle of midfield, with Will Smallbone and Sam Clucas options to miss out even despite the absence of Nick Powell. Lewis Baker, Gavin Kilkenny and Josh Laurent finished pre-season and can be expected to start the campaign.

In attack, there’s Dwight Gayle available and, after a week of training, he might come straight into the side. However, in Jacob Brown and Tyrese Campbell, O’Neill has two good options and he might well be minded to just manage his latest attacking addition through the opening weeks of the season.

 

Quiz: Can you remember the score the last time Stoke City played at these 26 stadiums?