The Potters welcome Tottenham to the Britannia Stadium for this Carling Cup 3rd round tie, with both clubs playing their second game in 48 hours and third game in 5 days.
Stoke finished 13th last season in the Premier League and did well in the cups, reaching the FA Cup final and 4th round of the Carling Cup. The visitors finished 5th in the table but have this season already written off the Europa League to focus attention on reclaiming their place in the top 4.
Stoke had a very good home record last season and beat fourteen sides at the Brit, suffering only five defeats and have already beaten Hajduk Split, Liverpool and Thun at home and drawn at the Brit against Chelsea. The Lilywhites won seven times away from home in the league last season but lost seven times away aswell. This season Spurs have one win, one defeat and two draws on the road.
In the 41 matches between these sides at Stoke, the Potters have won 20, the visitors 12 and nine have been drawn. Last season when the pair clashed at the Britannia Stadium the Potters were controversially defeated 2-1 by a Gareth Bale inspired Spurs. Overall Tottenham have won 40 times to the Potters 22 victories.
The referee is Lee Probert. He refereed Stoke five times last season, away defeats at Wolves, Everton and Manchester City and home victories against Aston Villa and Sunderland. He refereed Tottenham in their 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford last month.
The Met Office report that there will be clear skies, temperatures of a mild 13 degrees celsius, moderate visibility with a 4mph wind.
Prediction: City strike early on through Kenwyne Jones and then double their advantage, and book their place in round four, in the second half with a bullet header from Ryan Shotton