The Potters host York this weekend in a game that sees a team struggling against a team who just keep on winning but sit four divisions below. Stoke have suffered lately but have a decent home record this season and have already beaten Burnley,West Ham, Sunderland and Portsmouth whilst only losing to Manchester United, Birmingham and Chelsea. York are on a flying run at present and have ten wins and a draw from their last eleven games. In the 2 matches between these sides at Stoke, the Potters have won one and one has been drawn. The last time the pair clashed at the Britannia, in 2000, saw the game end 0-0. Stoke have never conceded a goal against York at home, but only scored twice themselves. Overall Stoke have won 3 times with two draws and no wins for York. Liam Lawrence will be making his 100th start for Stoke should he start Saturdays game. Louis Moult will be hoping for his first start and Ben Marshall and Matthew Lund will be hoping for debuts. M J Jones is taking charge of Saturdays game. He has refereed both sides in 2009, Stoke winning 1-0 versus Sunderland and drawing 2-2 with Portsmouth and York losing 2-0 against Stevenage in the FA Trophy final, last season he was also in charge as Stoke lost to West Ham when Ricardo Fuller was dismissed for slapping then captain Andy Griffin. Prediction: The Potters will come out all guns blazing and with places in the 'league' team up for grabs, goals from Fuller, Arismendi and a brace from Moult book the Potters place in the fourth round
Stoke sit 12th in the Premier League but are still only a couple of results away from the bottom three and have a tough set of fixtures coming up. York are flying high in the Conference and are on fire right now.
The Met Office report that there will be sunny spells, temperatures of a freezing 0 degrees celsius, very good visibility and a weak 5mph wind.