Everton attempt to perform on a cold winter’s afternoon at the Britannia Stadium – Stoke City’s veritable fortress.
Baseball cap aficionado Tony Pulis will know that his Stoke City team faces a tough task against Everton, but they are strong at the Britannia Stadium, and the Toffees will have to be at their best.
Otherwise, they face the wrath of David Moyes – and that’s enough to ruin anyone’s Christmas.
Venue Britannia Stadium
Last season Stoke City 1 Everton 1
Referee Mark Halsey
This season’s matches 8 Y18, R2, 2.50 cards per game
Odds Stoke City 2-1 Everton 11-8 Draw 9-4
Stoke City
Subs from Nash, Sorensen, Whitehead, Palacios, Owen, Ness, Upson, Kightly, Arismendi, Jerome, Edu, Adam
Doubtful Owen (hamstring)
Injured Delap (hernia, 15 Dec), Wilson (broken leg, unk)
Suspended Ryan Shotton (one match)
Form guide DWWWDW
Disciplinary record Y34 R2
Leading scorer Peter Crouch 4
Everton
Subs from Heitinga, Barkley, Mucha, Francisco, Gueye, Vellios, Duffy, McAleny, Oviedo, Hitzlsperger.
Injured Mirallas (hamstring, Jan), Neville (knee, Jan), Anichebe (hamstring), Hibbert (calf, Jan)
Suspended None
Form guide WDDDLW
Disciplinary record Y30 R1
Leading scorer Marouane Fellaini 8
SOURCE: Guardian
STAT-ATTACK
Head-to-head
Everton have won 53 of the 122 league meetings between the clubs, with Stoke earning 29 victories.
Stoke are unbeaten in their last three matches against Everton at the Britannia Stadium since a 3-2 defeat in September 2008.
Stoke
Stoke will equal their Premier League club record of seven matches unbeaten if they avoid defeat – the Potters were last beaten on 3 November, against Norwich.
Tony Pulis’s men are currently on a 14-match unbeaten run at the Britannia Stadium, dating back to last season (W7, D7).
They have won the last three matches in this sequence.
No club has kept more clean sheets (eight) or conceded fewer goals (12) in the Premier League than the Potters. They have conceded only three times in their last eight matches.
If selected, Steven Nzonzi will be making the 100th Premier League appearance of his career.
Kenwyne Jones has failed to score in each of his last 27 Premier League appearances, stretching back to August 2011.
Everton
Fourth-placed Everton are seven points down on this stage of the 2004-05 season, the last time they went on to finish fourth.
The Toffees have conceded 999 goals in the Premier League.
They have kept just two clean sheets all season and have conceded in their last 11 games – their longest run without a clean sheet since a 12-match streak between October and December 2009.
Leighton Baines will be appearing in his 250th Premier League game. He has scored two league goals this season and has two assists.
SOURCE: BBC Sport
