Stoke City and Wolves Face Off in All-Midlands Friendly at the bet365 Stadium
Saturday afternoon sees an all-Midlands clash at the bet365 Stadium, where Stoke City welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers for a pre-season friendly as both sides continue to gear up for their respective 2024-25 campaigns.
Stoke come into the match buoyed by their first pre-season victory — a 2-1 comeback win over Crewe Alexandra — while Wolves are still searching for their maiden win of the summer.
Match Preview
Wolverhampton Wanderers, adjusting to the absence of key players Rayan Ait-Nouri and Matheus Cunha, have yet to register a win in their pre-season schedule. During their training stint in Portugal, they fell 2-1 to Santa Clara, with injury-prone forward Sasa Kalajdzic scoring in a losing effort. That was followed by a 1-1 draw against Premier League newcomers Burnley, where Jorgen Strand Larsen gave Wolves the lead before Jacob Bruun Larsen — no relation — equalised for the Clarets.
Wolves’ encounter with Stoke marks their final pre-season fixture against an English opponent. The Old Gold will then travel to face French side Lens, followed by games against La Liga clubs Girona and Celta Vigo, in preparation for their Premier League opener against defending champions Manchester City on August 16.
The club recently bolstered their attacking options with the addition of Colombian forward Jhon Arias from Fluminense, who joins summer recruit Fer Lopez in what manager Gary O’Neil hopes will be a refreshed frontline.
Stoke’s Turnaround
Stoke City, meanwhile, found some much-needed rhythm in midweek. After a tough run that included defeats to Shrewsbury Town (1-0), Brighton (3-1), and a heavy 5-0 loss to Liverpool, Mark Robins’s men managed to overturn a deficit against Crewe Alexandra. Josh March had given Crewe the lead from the spot, but summer signing Sorba Thomas sparked a revival — first assisting Bosun Lawal, then scoring himself to secure a morale-boosting 2-1 victory at the Mornflake Stadium.
That result sets the stage for Stoke’s second-last warm-up fixture before they face Burnley on August 2. Their Championship campaign begins a week later with a showdown against Derby County.
While the two clubs haven't met in league play since 2012, their most recent encounter came in the 2020-21 EFL Cup, where Stoke edged out Wolves 1-0 at Molineux behind closed doors.
