Stoke City host Hull City in the second round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday with Mark Robins trying to turn a difficult start into a cup response. Stoke won 2-0 against Oldham Athletic in the first round, but they now face a Hull side that arrived in the tie on the back of a 2-0 win over Manchester United.
That is why this match is being searched now. Stoke have already lost their opening two Championship matches, falling 2-1 to Swansea City and 3-1 to Southampton at the weekend, while Hull are coming in with a result that changes the mood around them at once. Robins said his side “played really well” in the defeat to Southampton but “ended up tiring in areas that we can't strengthen right now”, a line that captures both the effort he saw and the limits he is working under.
There is a sharp contrast in how the two clubs reach the bet365 Stadium. Hull have had a busy summer under Sergej Jakirovic and have added Nobel Mendy, Jack Butland, Oscar Zambrano, Matt Targett, Hidemasa Morita, Konstantinos Tzolakis, Jens Hjerto-Dahl, Elliot Stroud, Lucas Herrington, Lucas Gourna-Douath and Joe Gelhardt, while Stoke have also changed heavily with Milan Smit, Djibril Soumare, Josh Griffiths, Ethan Galbraith, Svante Ingelsson, Luke Graham, George Morrison, Jack Newall, George Hirst and Ben Johnson all coming in. That scale of change gives Tuesday’s tie an extra layer: both teams are still trying to settle, but one arrives with momentum and the other with pressure.
The injury lists make the matchup even less straightforward. Stoke are expected to be without Aaron Cresswell, Lamine Cisse, Bosun Lawal, Junior Tchamadeu and Ato Ampah, while Hull are expected to miss Eliot Matazo, Darko Gyabi, Jack Butland, Oscar Zambrano, Charlie Hughes, Joe Gelhardt and Hidemasa Morita. Robins may turn to Robert Bozenik up front and Tomas Rigo in midfield, while Hull may change shape after using a back five against Manchester United, with John Egan most likely to drop out if they move to a back four. Hjerto-Dahl could be used in the No. 10 role, with Oli McBurnie likely to lead the line.
Stoke still have a useful edge in the history of the fixture, winning six of the last 10 meetings across all competitions. But that record only matters if they can turn a fragile early season into a proper cup night, and the first real test will be whether the changes Robins has made can hold up long enough against a Hull team that just showed it can beat a far bigger name.
