The bet365 Stadium is the venue for an all-Championship FA Cup fourth-round battle on Saturday afternoon, where Stoke City and Cardiff City collide.
The Potters punched their ticket to round four with an extra-time success over Sunderland, while the Bluebirds similarly took down promotion-chasing opposition away from home in the shape of Sheffield United.
Match preview
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Sunderland and Stoke City may be vying for points at the opposite end of the Championship table, but Mark Robins's men flexed their cup muscles at the Stadium of Light last month, taking down the Black Cats by virtue of an extra-time winner from Niall Ennis.
However, sinking the Premier League hopefuls was not the catalyst for a more consistent run of form for the Potters, who have only accrued five points from their last 12 on offer in the Championship, although three of those arrived at Hull City's base over the weekend.
Replicating their 2-1 away win from the cup encounter with Sunderland, Robins's men fought back from a goal down to conquer the Tigers through Ali Al-Hamadi and Andrew Moran, meaning that the 18th-placed hosts have a five-point buffer to the Championship relegation zone.
Taking down the Tigers saw Stoke record just a third victory from their last 17 matches across all competitions, but even though just one of the hosts' last eight at the bet365 Stadium has also ended in victory - coincidentally against Sunderland - they have begun to develop a defensive mean streak.
Each of the Potters' last three home contests versus the Black Cats, Plymouth Argyle and Oxford United have seen Robins's men keep a clean sheet, although they also went scoreless themselves against the latter two teams and now meet an outfit whose start to 2025 has been far more pleasing than their end to 2024.
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In strikingly similar fashion to Stoke's success at Sunderland, Cardiff also ripped up the form book to get the better of Premier League-chasing opposition away from home in the third round of the FA Cup, leaving Sheffield United's Bramall Lane base with a 1-0 victory to their name.
Cian Ashford's 19th-minute strike was enough to propel the Bluebirds into the fourth round of the competition, where they are bidding to banish a recent hoodoo; they have lost each of their last four matches at this stage of the FA Cup since last reaching round five in 2013-14.
The surprise success over Sheffield United represented the fourth game in a stellar eight-match unbeaten sequence for Omer Riza's side, who now find themselves just one point and one place behind Stoke in the Championship rankings, but their hot streak was snapped in the most chastening way last time out.
Testing their newfound mettle against Championship leaders Leeds United, Cardiff City were slaughtered 7-0 at Elland Road on February 1, shipping five times in the second half alone after getting to the break with just a two-goal deficit to make up.
Hoping to prove that their Elland Road embarrassment was just a freak aberration, Cardiff arrive at the bet365 Stadium with the fillip of a nine-match unbeaten run against Stoke, who have not conquered the Welsh outfit since the pre-lockdown days of February 2020.
Team News
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After marking his Stoke debut with a goal in the recent trip to Hull, Al-Hamadi must now take his place on the sidelines; the Ipswich Town loanee is cup-tied for Saturday's game on account of representing the Tractor Boys earlier in the competition.
The Iraq international could be one of three new faces on the hosts' absentee list, as both Lynden Gooch and Wouter Burger were withdrawn injured at the MKM Stadium; the former's calf problem is not believed to be too serious, though.
There appears to be minimal concern over Burger, but Ben Pearson, Million Manhoef, Jordan Thompson, Eric Bocat, Sol Sidibe and Ben Wilmot are also taking up places in a crowded infirmary.
As for visitors Cardiff, Ryotaro Tsunoda (knock), David Turnbull (muscle), Isaak Davies (leg) and Roko Simic (knock) remain out of contention, but a first-team comeback should be imminent for the veteran Aaron Ramsey.
The 34-year-old made his return from a long-term hamstring injury for the Under-21s over the weekend and may now come into contention for some senior minutes, albeit most likely from the bench at first.
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Tchamadeu, Phillips, Rose, Stevens; Moran, Seko; Bae, Lowe, Koumas; Tezgel
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Horvath; Ng, Goutas, Fish, Bagan; Ralls, Mannsverk, Colwill; Ashford, Salech, El Ghazi
We say: Stoke City 1-1 Cardiff City (a.e.t, Stoke to win on penalties)
An encounter as close as the Championship table would suggest should be on the cards on Saturday, where Stoke may not be best-placed to capitalise on Cardiff's recent Leeds collapse given their lack of output at home.
The lottery of penalties may be required to separate the two second-tier sides, where the Potters have our vote to maximise home advantage, lift their Cardiff curse and progress to round five.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
