Goals and Highlights: Stoke City 1 - 1 Wolves in pre-season friendly

Wolves were the better of the two teams, but with a lot of changes being made by Lage, it was a very good run-out for his men.

Jimenez and Traore looked fantastic upfront, with Semedo looking very dangerous down the right-hand-side. 

Silly mistakes were still apparent in the first half, but overall a good performance from Wolves.

A minute late, the Italian had another chance from long range but did not trouble the keeper.

Silva and Cutrone are stretching the Stoke defence, but the lack of Jimenez's presence up top is definitely felt. They are a much better side with the Mexican at the helm.

It looked close, but the referee waved all protests away. Interesting as Batth should not really be on the pitch!

Meanwhile, Silva and Cutrone are changed and waiting to come on!

Cue the pizza and pasta chants from the Wolves fans!

The following free-kick was put over the bar by Trincao.

He will be disappointed that he did not score.

Wolves' passing and movement has been superb! Gibbs-White has been explosive so far and is really causing the Stoke defence problems.

He struggled to get his feet in order as the Stoke defence were able to recover.

Could have done better there.

A product is needed though....

The following corner did fall to him, but could have done better.

There have been too many stray or poor passes in the middle of the park, which is preventing the side from getting into a flow and then dictating the tempo.

Stoke have not made things easy for Wolves, with some tough tackles coming in and showing that they can find space behind the Wolves defence, with Fletcher being a nuisance for Coady, Mosquera and Saiss.

It will be interesting to see what changes Lage will make in the second half. Will Fabio Silva get a nod, or might we see Patrick Cutrone once again? It would be good to see Morgan Gibbs-White get some time on the pitch, with the academy graduate looking lively in his previous appearances.

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The ex-player hoodoo strikes again as Batth is the man who put Stoke ahead after a Sunday League like scramble in the box, only for the ball to fall to Batth to slot the ball in off the post. Wolves had opportunities to clear the ball but tried to play the ball out rather than clear it.

Then the comeback of comebacks was complete as Jimenez grabbed the equaliser for Wolves after some great work by Semedo, which saw his shot saved, only for the ball to fall nicely for the Mexican.

Absolutely superb from the Spaniard and really gives Wolves that ability to break down defences.

The ball in from the corner was not dealt with well by Wolves, who tried to play the ball out rather than clear their lines. The ball then fell to Batth who slotted the ball in off the post.

Against the run of play, but Wolves have been sloppy and are letting Stoke into this game.

A positive performance is greatly wanted by Lage, in a pre-season that has seen the team struggle to shine.

The weather is perfect for a game of football. The grass is wet, the wind is calm and the temperature is cool.

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With all the players back from the Euros now, is Lage just experimenting with different formations, or is this the way he plans to go forward with the team? 

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Stoke starting XI: Bursik, Wilmot, Batth, Fox, Smith, Tymon, Allen, Vrancic, Powell, Brown, Fletcher. 

Subs: Davies, Chester, Clucas, Doughty, Thompson, Macari, Jones, Goodwin, Norton.

Wolves subs: Ruddy, Hoever, Ait-Nouri, Marques, Bueno, Campbell, Silva, Gibbs-White, Cundle, Cutrone, Estrada, Dendoncker, Kilman.

Adama Traore is back in action and will no doubt be keen to link up with his teammate Raúl Jiménez once again.

Rúben Neves and João Moutinho start in the middle with new signing Francisco Trincão set to get another chance to impress.

Wolves starting XI: Sa, Semedo, Mosquera, Coady, Saiss, Marcal, Neves, Moutinho, Trincao, Traore, Jimenez.

https://www.wolves.co.uk/news/first-team/20210730-lage-on-marbella-camp-working-on-his-idea-and-aims-for-the-season/

Good afternoon,  we are only one hour away from kickoff as Stoke City host Wolverhampton Wanderers at the bet365 stadium. Stick around for some pre-game analysis, score updates and news as it happens.

Do not miss a detail of the match, with live updates and commentaries of VAVEL.

We also have one of our journalists attending the game, his Twitter is:  @joshholland_

If you want to follow it on the internet, VAVEL UK is your best option!

Highlights will be on both club's YouTube channels in the following days.

But I think Wolves will begin to show Bruno Lage's identity a little more and come out 2-1 winners.

Stoke have won the previous three Premier League meetings between the two sides, including a controlling 3-0 win in 2011.

The sides did meet in last season's EFL Cup, with Stoke winning 1-0.

After missing large parts of last season after fracturing his skull, Jimenez will be licking his lips at the prospect of performing in front of the Wolves fans' again.

So far in pre-season, Fletcher has scored three goals- including goals in the wins over Crewe and Aston Villa.

For Wolves, with the game against Coventry following 24 hours later, it is set to be a mixture of first-team players and under-23s- something we have seen throughout their pre-season schedule.

So far in pre-season, they have fallen to defeat to Crewe and Las Palmas, whilst defeating Real Betis courtesy of a Patrick Cutrone goal.

Victories over Linfield, Crewe Alexandra and Aston Villa and a defeat to Wigan Athletic are how Stoke have done this summer.

In the previous meeting between the two sides in Stoke, goals from Helder Costa and Matt Doherty earned the Wanderers a 2-0 win in the FA Cup.

It's the first time Wolves fans will be in attendance at an opposition ground since their 3-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in 2020.