Stoke City vs Preston — Championship: stats, lineups & analysis
HighlightsStoke City FCYouTubeMatch Events
play_arrow2 clips- 2′Preston, yellow card:Foul
- 29′Stoke City, goal:1–0assist
- 43′Stoke City, yellow card:Foul
- Half-time1 – 0
- 46′Preston, substitution:off
- 53′Stoke City, goal:2–0assist
- 63′Preston, substitution:off
- 63′Preston, substitution:off
- 73′Stoke City, substitution:off
- 73′Stoke City, substitution:off
- 76′Stoke City, yellow card:Foul
- 81′Stoke City, substitution:off
- 81′Stoke City, substitution:off
- 86′Stoke City, substitution:off
- 86′Preston, substitution:off
- 90′Preston, yellow card:Foul
- Full-time2 – 0
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Stoke City
Preston
Match report
Stoke City climb to fourth with 2-0 win over Preston
Stoke City beat Preston 2-0 at the bet365 Stadium in the Championship on matchday 13, a result that lifted them from ninth to fourth. Mark Robins's side went into the game after a goalless draw with Bristol City and had too much for a Preston team that never found a way to trouble them.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
The breakthrough came in the 29th minute. Jack McGlynn picked out Ben Wilmot, who scored to make it 1-0, and that was how the sides went in at the interval. Stoke doubled the lead eight minutes into the second half, in the 53rd minute, when Ethan Galbraith set up McGlynn to finish.
Stoke dominated the contest, holding 60 per cent of possession and having 18 shots to Preston's three. Six of those efforts were on target, while Preston did not manage one, and Stoke also won nine corners to seven. Graham Alexander's side stayed 24th on five points, now 18 points behind Stoke, and are without a win in eight games.
Both clubs are back in action on Tuesday in the Championship: Stoke travel to Blackburn, while Preston host Sheffield Utd.
Jack McGlynn scored once and set up Wilmot's opener, earning the top rating of the match at 8.38. Galbraith's assist for the second goal also earned him a mention among the leading performers.
Stoke had 18 shots to Preston's three, with Preston failing to register a single shot on target.
Stoke City beat Preston 2–0 (half-time 1–0).
Stoke City met Preston in the Championship (Regular Season - 13). Kick-off was Saturday, 31 October 2026, 12:30 UTC at bet365 Stadium. Referee: Adam Herczeg.
Team pages: Stoke City · Preston · Championship
Key moments
- 29' Goal: Ben Wilmot (assist: Jack McGlynn) — 1–0 · Watch Ben Wilmot's goal video (29')
- 53' Goal: Jack McGlynn (assist: Ethan Galbraith) — 2–0 · Watch Jack McGlynn's goal video (53')
Starting line-ups
Stoke City (3-4-3)
Preston (3-4-3)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Stoke City 56%, the draw 25%, Preston 19%. It finished Stoke City 2–0 Preston.
Stoke City's stronger rating puts them clearly ahead — We give Stoke City 56% mainly because our strength rating has them 111 points higher, 1385 to 1274, though weak home advantage across the Championship pulls slightly towards Preston. The draw sits at 25%, the usual rate for a gap this size, with the Championship's higher draw rate roughly offset by a finishing streak and typical scoring levels.
Why Stoke City at 56%?
Stoke City sit 111 points higher on our strength rating — 1385 to 1274. Sides with a 80–160-point rating edge at home won 56.5% of 14,367 such games. Stoke City hold 7 more possession points (46 to 39 in recent games) across a 111-point rating gap. Control now carries a receipt beyond near-equals too: sides with this control edge at a 60–120-point rating gap won 42.6% of 9,322 such games where the class table expected 40.5%. The 300 most similar past games finished 52–27–21.
Why only 56%?
Championship home sides under-perform the global norm — and the difference mostly flows to draws (26.9% vs 25.4% norm). Championship homes won 42.9% of 8,500 games vs 44.6% across all 108,210 — outside the noise band, so the tally moves accordingly. Preston sit -0.52 goals per game below chance-quality — cold streaks like this have bounced back. Finishing swings carry a receipt at this rating gap too: sides finishing this cold won 38.5% of 2,970 such games where the class table expected 35.6%.
Why the draw at 25%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 25.0%. These teams' recent games average 2.8 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.8% of 27,247. Championship runs draw-heavy, adding 1.6 points. The bounce-back factor takes 1.2 points off the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Stoke City scored +0.65 goals per game beyond chance-quality lately — hot streaks like that have cooled off. Measured across 3,194 games at this rating gap, hot-finishing sides won 41.0% vs 42.3% class-expected — inside the noise band, so it scores 0 until the receipt clears its evidence bar. Stoke City have gained 72 strength-rating points over their last 10 games. Momentum is measured but not yet proven: climbing sides won 40.0% of 11,971 such games vs 40.6% class-expected — inside the noise band, so it stays at 0 points until the receipt clears its evidence bar. The other measured facts on this page scored nothing either.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Stoke City vs Preston final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this Championship fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Stoke City 2–0 Preston. Explore more on the Stoke City and Preston team pages or the Championship page.