Stoke City host Everton on Wednesday night. The two clubs with similar ambitions are separated by eight points in the midriff of the Premier League table, despite sitting ninth and seventh respectively. Everton, though, are five points away from Manchester United in sixth place and European football only looks a remote possibility for Ronald Koeman’s Toffees.

The Dutch manager was under pressure at Goodison Park until recently, having gone on a run of only one win in eight. Since the turn of 2017, however, Everton boast a 100% record through their three league matches including an emphatic victory over Manchester City.

Stoke, meanwhile, have recovered from a five match winless run in December to notch two wins and a draw in 2017. League form for the two clubs remains positive and both look set to have a good second half of the campaign. All of this suggests a tightly-fought, exciting contest on Wednesday night.

[ad_pod id='now-tv' align='centre']

The other angle to approach the two clubs from this calendar year is as failures. With safety guaranteed and a charge for the top six incredibly unlikely, both limped out of the FA Cup at the third round stage. They are two teams primed for cup success. With the talent and experience to upset the strongest teams in the country and without league pressures, Everton and Stoke have left themselves with an almost aimless second half of the season.

Of the two, Everton have clearly had the stronger league season, though. After briefly flirting with relegation during 2015/16, Koeman has made the Toffees into a top half challenger, who look a good run of form away from breaking into the monopoly of the top six. The squad is good, but Koeman still deserves credit for taking them to where they already are. With investment guaranteed in the summer, they have the foundations to build something significant under the former Southampton manager.

Without the same reliance on the goals of Romelu Lukaku, Everton have made moves in the transfer market to address weaknesses within the squad both last summer and this January.

Contrastingly, Stoke are treading water. They have built their own foundations in mid-table, those foundations are now becoming roots. Successive transfer windows have seen inefficient, misguided business conducted and there has been a step away from the new style of football that made them such a joy to watch during the first half of last season.

No longer playing a brand of football associated with a team harbouring ambitions to surge up the table, Mark Hughes has lead his side into somewhat of a cul-de-sac. A dead end he could easily reverse out of, though, a simple three point turn could return his team to the road north and hope to sit in Everton’s slipstream.

Hughes, like Koeman, suffered a tough period earlier this season. The Potters were winless for their first seven league matches, which led Hughes to return to Stoke’s old guard. This has since led to the loan of Bojan: the greatest sign of Stoke’s lack of ambition. The inability to give Bojan minutes and the subsequent signing of Saido Berahino underlines the poor transfer business by the Potters, who have an unnecessary number of forwards in their squad.

Transfer decisions have been the key difference between Hughes and Koeman this season. Everton have been carried by their summer signing at times, Idrissa Gueye, while Stoke have seen two of their best players, Giannelli Imbula and Bojan, ostracised. The Toffees have been shrewd in the market and addressed their weaknesses, while Stoke have too often been haphazard in their approach and ended up with a squad that Hughes is not using effectively and is imbalanced.

Stoke, if they really are looking to progress, should be asking questions of Hughes. Another season finishing ninth is comfortable, respectable even, but it is not a step forwards. Everton, on the other hand, are waiting in the wings should any of the top six leave the door ajar.

[ad_pod id='Shoot-Xmas-Survey' align='left']

[ad_pod id='playwire' align='center']