--- source: thedugout.football generated: 2026-10-24T01:17:40.596Z last_updated: 2026-10-21T12:03:57+00:00 data_provider: API-Football canonical: https://thedugout.football/clubs/stoke-city/news/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3Rva2VzZW50aW5lbC5jby51ay9zcG9ydC9mb290YmFsbC9mb290YmFsbC1uZXdzL3N0b2tlLWNpdHktY2hhbXBpb25zaGlwLXhnLXRhYmxlLTExMjA4Mzgy --- # Stoke City and the arguments of Championship underlying data amid flying run - **Source:** - **Published:** 21 Oct - **Club:** Stoke City - **Original URL:** https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stoke-city-championship-xg-table-11208382 Stoke City supporters shouldn’t take too much notice of xG stats – without getting too carried away either, believes EFL pundit George Elek. Stoke are up to sixth in the Championship thanks to a run of six wins in eight and the mood has completely changed around the bet365 Stadium. Mark Robins is now preparing his squad for back-to-back home matches against Bristol City and Preston North End. Some onlookers have pointed to underlying statistics that don’t have Stoke in such a lofty position. The idea of measuring performances through the quality of chances being created was in part pioneered to explain how Tony Pulis’ Stoke were winning games in the Premier League when they weren’t necessarily having more shots on target. It is seen as a way of judging sustainable success, but there are outliers, none more so than Hull City last season and they are now playing in the Premier League. Steven Schumacher referenced Stoke's xG when his Bolton side had been beaten by Stoke earlier this month. Make sure you never miss the latest Stoke City news and opinion by making The Sentinel one of your Google preferred sources Elek used Stoke’s 1-0 win at Derby on Saturday to try to talk through the intricacies of the data, how it is affected by the flow of games – and the impact of having a superstar goalkeeper like Viktor Johansson to throw into the mix. “It wasn’t a great game to start with,” said Elek on this week's episode of the Not The Top 20 podcast. “I wouldn’t say that both teams had some opportunities. Sammie Szmodics had a shot that was blocked and the Stoke goal came from a set-piece – Luke Graham with a header that kind of deflected off the top of Carlton Morris’ head and Josh Vickers wasn’t able to make the save, parrying it onto the inside of the post. “From there it went the way you would expect. Derby had more of the territory and created a few chances, but Viktor Johansson, as he’s going to do, was making saves that meant that Stoke got home and won the game 1-0. “There will be talk about if you look at the bare stats of the game that Derby were unlucky not to win it. However, this is a game when you look at the xG via Opta and it’s 1.14 to 0.59 but at the time of the goal being scored in the 49th minute, neither team had really created anything. The first-half xG was 0.49 to 0.29 and the goal itself came from a 0.07 shot. At the time when the header was scored, the total xG was minimal – it wasn’t like anyone had particularly deserved it. “From that moment on, Derby had the better of the chances but, in Viktor Johansson, Stoke City have a goalkeeper who will do this. They have a goalkeeper who will consistently outperform other goalkeepers at the level for shot-stopping. If you were to make a list of Stoke City’s most important three or four players, Viktor Johansson would be one of those three or four because this is what he does. “If I’m a Derby fan you are probably looking at this as a slightly better performance. If I’m a Stoke fan, there’s no denying that their underlying numbers are really poor. But part of that is because I think they are not an amazing team who are spending a lot of their games ahead – and game stats play a massive part in the way that games look. “Because Stoke have won six of their last eight games, they are spending a lot of their time defending leads and they have a goalkeeper who they can rely on to make those kinds of saves. I’m still not fully sold on Stoke at all and this wasn’t the kind of performance that made you sit up and think differently – especially because we’ve seen some of the better teams destroy Derby recently.” What do you think? Click HERE to join the debate Get the best Stoke City news and analysis straight to your Inbox courtesy of The Sentinel! To get it, it's a quick and easy one-two: