Preview | Stoke City (H)
The Game
Argyle v Stoke City. Home Park. Saturday, 31 August. 3pm. Sky Bet Championship.
The Opposition
Stoke’s most recent game was a 5-0 win over Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, but this came after two consecutive league defeats, as the Potters followed a 3-0 defeat at Watford with a 2-1 home loss to West Bromwich Albion.
Stoke began the season with a victory at home to Coventry City, which means they have three points from their three league outings so far.
The Gaffer
Steven Schumacher will make his first return to Home Park when he sits in the away dugout on Saturday. The Stoke boss left Argyle in December 2023, just over two years after being appointed manager of the Pilgrims. He was in charge of 94 games for Argyle, with a 54.3% win ratio, and his one full season in charge was the stunning title win of 2022/23, when Argyle won Sky Bet League One with 101 points.
As a player, Schumacher started at Everton, where he played in the Academy with current Argyle Head Coach Wayne Rooney. He also featured for Bradford City, Crewe Alexandra, Bury, Fleetwood Town, Stevenage and Southport, the latter of which he had a stint with as caretaker manager.
He joined former Bury team-mate Ryan Lowe as a coach at Bury, and followed Lowe to Home Park in 2019, as Lowe’s assistant manager at Argyle, later succeeding him in the top job.
The Squad
Two of Stoke’s five-goal haul on Tuesday came from Dutch winger Million Manhoef. The Netherlands under-21 international scored four in his last six games of last season, including one against Argyle, and has brought that form into this campaign, it seems.
Stoke, like Argyle, have only scored two league goals. One came from Lewis Baker, a 29-year-old midfielder who is approaching 100 games for Stoke, in the opening game of the season. The other was scored by Liverpool loanee Lewis Koumas, who scored against West Brom, a team that his father, Jason, represented during his playing career. Like his father, Koumas is a Welsh international.
Stoke’s squad contains some familiar faces. First, Ashley Phillips, who won Argyle’s Young Player of the Season award after playing 20 times for the Pilgrims last season, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur. He made his Stoke debut in Tuesday’s win against Middlesbrough.
Niall Ennis signed for Stoke in January, leaving Blackburn, for whom he had signed after departing Home Park in the summer of 2023. Niall scored 24 goals in 97 games for Argyle, including three goals in three wins in a single week, the final of which, against Burton Albion, confirmed Argyle’s most recent promotion.
Ben Gibson, who signed for Stoke in the summer of 2024, is also a former Pilgrim. He played 13 times in a loan spell in 2011, early in his career. Now 31, Gibson has played for Middlesbrough and Norwich City, most notably, and was named Stoke’s club captain on arrival.
Last Season’s Meetings
Argyle played Stoke towards the end of last season, and lost 3-0 at the bet365 Stadium, in the first game against the Potters since Steven Schumacher had become Stoke manager. The goals were scored by a trio of Dutch players – Ki-Jana Hoever, now with Auxerre, Manhoef and Walter Burger.
The home fixture took place the previous December and featured as dramatic and poetic a conclusion as you are likely to see. Adam Randell, making his 100th Argyle appearance, scored his first ever goal at Home Park, the winner in the seventh minute of injury time to give Argyle a 2-1 victory. Earlier in the game, Tyrese Campbell had given Stoke the lead, before Mustapha Bundu equalised for Argyle.
Tickets
The game is sold out for home supporters. If you have a season ticket and cannot attend the match, you can make your ticket available via the Ticket Exchange and receive face value credit if your ticket is resold. Find out more about the Ticket Exchange.
Argyle TV
Argyle TV's coverage will begin at 10am, with the new Argyle Breakfast show, hosted by Erin Black and Aaron Cusack. They will bring you build-up, interviews, guests and features throughout the morning, from the Argyle TV studio.
Erin will return at 2.30pm, with pundit Marc Edworthy, for the pre-match show, live from pitchside, as the atmosphere for the fixture builds. Commentary for the game will be provided by Charlie Price and Katie Middleton.
Match passes to watch this game are available to international audiences and can be purchased here.
