Stoke have always had the upper hand over Arsenal. One of the reasons for this has been the physical approach of the team. Andy Wilkinson has said that Robert Huth is one player who you should be afraid when going into a 50-50 challenge because the German never gives up. Stoke are currently 14th in the Premier league table. One of the main reasons for their success in the league has been their home form. Hence, Wilkinson reckons that it certainly will not be easy for Arsenal to get all three points, despite the presence of inform striker Robin van Persie.

“I’ve told him to get his contract signed. He can stay here and be a legend… if he’s not already. He’s a top-class player. Even in training, if there’s a 50-50, he’s the one person you wouldn’t want to go in with – not that I’d pull out. From a fans’ point of view, he is everything Stoke City is. There’s always a massive buzz because they are a top club and team. We are underdogs again, but we love being underdogs. Hopefully we can cause an upset,” Wilkinson said ahead of the Arsenal match.

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One of the main reasons for this has been the form of former Chelsea and Middlesbrough defender Robert Huth. Manager Tony Pulis recently said that he would like to see the defender signed a new contract with the club. The 27-year-old has been imperious for Stoke city at the back this season. As a result, they are looking to tie down the player on a long-term contract, especially given that his current contract will run out at the end of the season.

Robert Huth initially came to Stoke city on a loan deal. He is amazing performances with the club meant that they were persuaded to pay the £ 5 million transfer fee to Middlesbrough in order to make the transfer a permanent one. Pulis has said that signing Robert Huth from Middlesbrough has been one of the best decisions he has made in the last few seasons at Stoke City. It is expected that the defender will be able to command wages that are amongst the highest at the club.

“He’s got a year left so there’s no immediate rush, but the club are keen to get something done. Robert’s keen to get it done. Fingers crossed something can be ironed out. I think he likes the place, I think he’s comfortable. We took a chance on him, because of his ankle. A lot of people said not to take him because he picked up a lot of injuries and struggled with his ankle,” said Pulis.

Stoke City are currently in the 14th position in the table away from any relegation worries.

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After the exit from the European competition, Stoke City defender Robert Huth praised the resilience and the team spirit of the team. Stoke City lost both the matches 1-0 and thus exited the competition 2-0 on aggregate. Despite not managing to win both the matches against Valencia, Robert Huth has said that the performances and the spirit alone were enough to convince him that they are a very good team. Tony Pulis, though, did not seem to be least interested in getting through to the next stage of the Europa league, as he named a week starting eleven.

“If you watch the game tonight I don’t think there was any doubt that Stoke don’t give up. We made a few changes that would hopefully improve our team, but today we lost to a good team. Looks more than 4,000 [fans in the stadium], everywhere you look you could see and hear them shouting. So well done to our supporters and hopefully we’ll be back sometime soon,” Huth told reporters after suffering the defeat at the hands of Champions League qualification chasing Valencia. Stoke City will now focus their attention on the Premier league where they are in the 14th position, with the game against Bolton Wanderers fast approaching.

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Robert was issued a red card despite the fact that he backed out of the tackle, which has angered the Stoke City boss enough to take this matter up to the governing body and authorities. TV replays seem to suggest that Pulis is right, and that the decision was very harsh given the amount of contact.

Pulis believes that referees should be consistent, which is his main gripe. Even throughout just the Sunderland match then the referee struggled to give the same punishement for similar offences – at one point the ref would come up with a certain decision and the very next moment they change it for something else.

Pulis believes that he needs to do something constructive to try and help referees become more consistent, and getting Robert Huth to be proved innocent by sending the footage to the higher officials is one way of doing this.

Pulis has mentioned that he will be putting together a compilation which will be sent to the FA and the Premier League to make them aware of the inconsistencies and also ensure that they get improved in due course.

It would be great if he got feedback regarding this incident as losing players like Robert Huth in the middle of a game for no reason whatsoever is quite a big injustice for the team as a whole.

Meanwhile, being left out of the hectic February schedule may pay dividends for Huth and the German national side. The Deutsche are one of the top Euro 2012 betting tips, and with key players like Robert Huth getting a bit of a break from the intense run of matches in the New Year, they may well be fresher at Euro 2012.

According to http://betting.betfair.com/football/euro-2012/, Germany are the second-favourites to win the tournament, which is being held in neighbouring Poland and Ukraine.

Considering that this match is also at Old Trafford, Robert Huth has said that Stoke city do need to concentrate a lot in order to get something from the match. Manchester United come on the back of a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

As a result, Sir Alex Ferguson would have prepared his side to face Stoke city in the best possible manner according to Robert Huth. Manchester United suffered the 2-1 defeat in the most difficult circumstances. There has been a lot of talk surrounding the racial abuse suffered by Patrice Evra, who was booed throughout the match by the Liverpool supporters. Liverpool gained the psychological advantage in the battle between the two clubs when they scored in the final few minutes of the match to secure their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

“You know what they’re like when they lose – they come back even stronger. It’s a massive game for us. I don’t think I’ve ever got anything from there so it will be great if we can perform and get a point or even win. We’re looking forward to it but we know it’s going to be a really tough game,” Stoke city defender Robert Huth said in the pre-match press conference ahead of the match with Manchester United at Old Trafford. Manchester United are two points behind leaders Manchester City.

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It is a place that has been a fortress for Stoke city since their promotion from the Championship a few seasons ago. One of the main reasons for it is the difficult conditions both in terms of the crowd and the cold. However, the wind was the reason for Stoke city failing to get all three points against a struggling Aston Villa side according to Robert Huth.

Stoke city came into the match on a good run of form, which has seen them claim to the table near to the Europa League qualification positions. Aston Villa, on the other hand, has struggled a lot since the arrival of new manager Alex McLeish. Hence, Stoke city were the undoubted favourites going into the match against Aston Villa. However, difficult conditions made the match extremely boring and both sides failed to create any clear cut chances. Following the match, Stoke city defender Robert Huth, who has been one of the influential members of the squad, has said that the windy conditions were responsible for their failure to get three points against Aston Villa.

“I don’t know if the fans could pick it up from where they were, but it was ridiculously windy out there and that put everybody on the back foot. They had to defend another 25 yards deeper and we were almost up on the halfway line. You cannot judge the ball properly in the air when it’s like that and you could see the Villa players were unsure,” said Huth. He has also said that achieving 28 points by New Year would be a dream for the club.