Three things we learnt from Stoke’s 2-0 victory over Watford

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Stoke win, but team selection baffles

There were more than a few eyebrows raised around the BET365 Stadium on Tuesday evening when the Stoke City starting line-up was revealed prior to kick off.

Mark Hughes elected to deploy a 3-4-1-2 formation with Marko Arnautovic, returning to the action after serving a three-game suspension following his red card against Southampton, positioned behind the experienced front pairing of Peter Crouch and Jonathan Walters. The vast majority of Stoke’s attacking personnel were left on the bench including Bojan Krkic, Xherdan Shaqiri, Ibrahim Afellay and club-record signing Giannelli Imbula with Hughes opting to place his trust in experience and defensive solidarity.

The team selection was eventually justified by the end result, a comfortable victory, but supporters were not provided with a great deal of entertainment throughout the duration of the contest. Facing a Watford team struggling for form and short of confidence you could not help but wonder if the over performance and score line would have been greatly improved had the creative innovation of Krkic, Shaqiri and Afellay been handed starting roles.

Hughes will have been delighted with the three points but you doubt that Krkic and Shaqiri, both of whom have been linked with a move away from Stoke during recent weeks, would have been content with sitting on the bench.

Featured Image: All Rights Reserved Bola Mania (Bol Mania)