Crystal Palace v Stoke: Premier League match preview

A look ahead to this weekend's Premier League fixture at Selhurst Park

Marrouane Chamakh celebrates scoring for Crystal Palace (Getty Images)

Palace boss Tony Pulis will face his former side as Stoke City come to town. Pulis’ side are in desperate need of the three points that will lift them off the foot of the table. With the bottom of the table being so tight – the bottom six are separated by just three points – a win could boost them as high as fifteenth.

With most of the London side’s problems coming from a lack of goals, summer signings Marouane Chamakh and Dwight Gayle will need to step up on Saturday. Chamakh in particular has improved his game recently though, four goals in his past eight games have coincided with Palace taking nine points from those games.

Stoke meanwhile may be settling into a false sense of security. Whilst their comfortable twelfth position in the league may seem lofty, they are only five points off bottom and without a league win in four. Add to that that they have to worst away record in the division, and Mark Hughes’ men could slip into danger if due care is not taken.

Hughes has acted, bringing in Manchester City’s Swedish striker John Guidetti and making Stephen Ireland’s loan move permanent in an attempt to bolster his squad.

A win for Stoke, it would be only their second away win of the season, could see them rise above Aston Villa and Hull and into the top half of the table.

KICK-OFF: Saturday, 3pm

PAST THREE MEETINGS:

Stoke 2 (Adam, Shawcross) Crystal Palace 1 (Chamakh), Premier League, August 2013

Stoke 4 (Jones, Walters 2, Jerome) Crystal Palace 1 (Murray), FA Cup, January 2013

Crystal Palace 0 Stoke 0, FA Cup, January 2013

STATS:

Stoke are heavily reliant on their home form – they have the worst away record in the league.

Stoke concede an average of 1.09 goals at home compared to 2.30 away.

While Palace are bottom, they’ve conceded less goals than half of the teams in the bottom half of the league.

ODDS:

Crystal Palace to win: 2.25

Stoke to win: 3.4

Draw: 3.2

TV: Highlights on BBC1 at 10.20pm.