Alan Pardew takes his side to the Britannia Stadium, looking to lead Crystal Palace to only their second top-flight win at Stoke with the last being in September 1979.
Vince Hilaire and Jim Cannon scored the two goals for the Eagles that day in stoppage time, allowing for a comeback from 1-0 down – handing Palace their first win away at Stoke in what has now totaled up to seven top-fight meetings.
The South Londoners have their strongest chance in a number of visits of coming away with a result with Pardew getting the backing of the players, something that hasn’t been seen at the club for a couple of years. Ian Holloway was the last manager to visit the Britannia with the Eagles and at the start of last season, his side left the stadium with their second defeat of the season in their second game of the season – being pulled back from 1-0 up in the first half to 2-1 down.
Stoke City have matched Crystal Palace in form since the turn of the year when Pardew took over the helm at Selhurst Park, picking up an average of 1.70 points per game with only a matter of goal difference separating the two sides that have also been matching form with this season’s surprise package Southampton.
Title contenders, Manchester City and Cheslea are the only two teams that have gone home with all three points from the Britannia in the last eight matches with the Potters winning five and drawing one. Meanwhile, Crystal Palace have notched up four wins in their last five away games in the Premier League under Alan Pardew; the only defeat came against Southampton in their last game away from home.
Crystal Palace’s tally of 33 points after 29 games is a record for the club in a 38-game season – last season the Eagles had 28 points in 17th, in 2004/05 the club were also in 17th but this time on 26 points whereas in 1997/98 Crystal Palace were in 20th with 23 points. In the two, 42-game seasons the Eagles had 30 points in 1994/95 when they were placed in 19th out of the 22-team division and in the year of inception of the Premier League, the side from South London had 33 points in 17th.
OPPOSITION MANAGER – Mark Hughes Pre-Match Quotes
“Alan has done a tremendous job and has managed to navigate the team away from the difficult position they found themselves in.
“They are a very dangerous team with a lot of quality and are arguably a more dangerous proposition for us at home than they were when we played them down in London late last year (the first match ended 1-1).
“They have a lot of pace on either side, as well as down through the middle too, so we will have to be vigilant of that for the duration of the game.
“Given the run of form they have been on they will come here in confident mood, and will be hoping to claim the three points that are on offer.
“We are playing well too, and we have been in good form of late at home, so we are looking forward to it as much as they are and I am sure that they will be wary of the talent that we have within our squad too.”
