Stoke City v Palace

Britannia Stadium, Saturday 3.00pm

Story so far

Stoke put in an impressive defensive performance in their opening fixture against Liverpool, with Steven Nzonzi winning nine tackles, more than an other player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

Team mate Marc Wilson also signaled Stoke’s intentions for the new season by attempting 10 tackles, the most of the weekend, winning 7. That contributed to 20 defensive contributions by Wilson in the game, the second highest in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index after the first round of game.

Meanwhile Ryan Shawcross was one of four players to make three blocks in their first game of the season. Shawcross ended last season having won an impressive 62.8% of tackles attempted (49 out of 78) and made 179 interceptions, ending the season at the highest ranked Stoke player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index

Undoubtedly the hero of Stoke’s display was, however, Asmir Begovic who delivered a man of the match display to limit Liverpool to one goal. Begovic made ten saves in the game. Stoke are 23/4 with 888sport.com to win without conceding a goal against the Eagles.

Crystal Palace impressed on their first game since their return to the Premier League. Mile Jedinak in particular put in an impressive midfield display, making 14 defensive contributions overall across tackles, interceptions, clearances and blocks, second only to Everton’s Marouane Fellaini in the opening round of games.

Dean Moxey will be disappointed to have conceded the penalty which ultimately gave Spurs victory, but after captain Jedinak Moxey did more defensively for the Eagles than any other player. Moxey attempted 6 tackles (winning 4), and also made 4 clearances and 2 interceptions.

Despite their defensive grit, Palace will need more quality in the attacking half to unlock Premier League defences. Owen Garvan was the only Palace player to complete more than 20 passes in the opposition half against Spurs, while no player attempted more than one shot at goal in the match against Spurs

Palace fans will be hoping that play-off hero Kevin Phillips can recreate his form in the Premier League this season. In his last season in the Premier League with Blackpool Phillips scored just one Premier League goal and contributed one assist in 555 minutes on the pitch.

However, the veteran striker’s accuracy in front of goal suggests that some things never age. Phillips got 80% of shots on target in that campaign. Phillips is 13/4 with 888sport.com to score at any time and 7/1 to score first.

Team news

Summer signing Jerome Thomas is still sidelined with an ankle injury sustained in pre-season, along with fellow wide man Yannick Bolasie (hamstring).

Boss Ian Holloway could hand Marouane Chamakh his first start of the season after coming off the bench in the defeat at home to Spurs last weekend.

Stoke have midfielders Brek Shea, Wilson Palacios and Jamie Ness missing for the clash at the Britannia Stadium.

Stoke (from): Begovic, Sorensen, Butland, Cameron, Huth, Wilson, Shawcross, Wilkinson, Shotton, Muniesa, Pieters, Whelan, Nzonzi, Adam, Kightly, Etherington, Pennant, Walters, Jones, Crouch, Jerome.

Crystal Palace (from): Speroni, Gabbidon, Moxey, Ward, Delaney, Wilbraham, Dobbie, Garvan, Williams, Dikgacoi, Jedinak, Gayle, Alexander, Puncheon, Phillips, Chamakh, Campana, O'Keefe, Marange.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"We want to score our first goal and get a point on the board, people will start taking notice of us when things start happening. We must never go into these games with a negative attitude, but going to Stoke will be a tough, tough fixture. We will be positive though.

"I think we did really well as a team (last week) and can take positives from the game against a side like Tottenham. My lads as a group, whoever is selected, will be ready and clear in their roles and give a good account of themselves. My lads will have to adapt each week to the tasks ahead as we come up against different opponents each game; tactics will change."

Danny Higginbotham

"I'm sure everyone in this neck of the woods is expecting Stoke to beat Crystal Palace on home soil. But be warned, this really is a genuine banana skin.

"One thing is for sure, Stoke won't outwork Palace, judging by the performance they put in last week against Spurs. They are organised, they play for each other and because they are new to the Premier League there is no pressure on them.

"What Stoke cannot afford to do is under-estimate their visitors just like so many teams have done with the Potters themselves over the years.

"Palace will look to play out from the back, so it's important Stoke hold a high line and get in the faces of the big-league new boys to stop them in their tracks and put them off their stride.

"I don't see Ian Holloway coming to the Britannia Stadium for just a point. His DNA has never been like that, and so it could lead to a very open game."

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Stoke City - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
13th	1	0	0	1	0

Full league table

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Stoke City - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
1	0	0	1	0	1

Full form table

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Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
15/01/2013	FA Cup	Stoke City	4 - 1	Crystal Palace
05/01/2013	FA Cup	Crystal Palace	0 - 0	Stoke City
07/04/2008	League	Stoke City	1 - 2	Crystal Palace
23/10/2007	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 3	Stoke City
09/04/2007	League	Stoke City	2 - 1	Crystal Palace

All time results

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Ref watch

Andre Marriner

Last meeting

Stoke City 4-1 Palace

Tuesday January 15 2013

Stoke City: Sørensen, Cameron, Huth, Shawcross, Wilkinson (Whelan 37), N'Zonzi, Whitehead, Kightly (Jerome 55), Etherington, Walters, Crouch (Jones 63)

Subs not used: Nash, Owen, Upson, Adam

Goals: Jones (69), Walters (95, 110), Jerome (120)

Bookings: Cameron, N'Zonzi, Walters

Palace: Price, Parsons, Delaney, Ramage, Gabbidon (Murray 79), Jedinak, Williams, Boateng (Moritz 65), Zaha (Bolasie 46), Wilbraham, Easter

Subs not used: Speroni, Moxey, Wynter, Taylor

Goals: Murray (87, pen)

Bookings: Zaha, Jedinak, Moritz

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