Crystal Palace vs Stoke City

Mid-table Premier League side Crystal Palace will be looking to book their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals when they take on mid-table Championship outfit Stoke City at Selhurst Park.

Crystal Palace failed to build on a thumping 4-1 triumph at Watford last midweek, playing out an uneventful 1-1 draw with another Premier League relegation fighters Burnley at the weekend. But while they’ve failed to live up to expectations in the Premier League this calendar year, the ‘Eagles’ have been impressive in the FA Cup, dispatching lower-league sides Millwall and Hartlepool in the last two rounds by an aggregate score of 5-2. The Londoners will feel confident about their chances of qualifying for the FA Cup quarter-finals for the third time in a row, based on their recent H2H record against Stoke. Indeed, Palace have won eight of their last ten meetings with this opposition in all competitions (D1, L1) despite failing to keep a clean sheet in eight of those match-ups.

Meanwhile, Stoke’s hopes of returning to the Premier League already look far-fetched as they currently languish in mid-table lethargy in the Championship. Since a scintillating 3-0 romping of Swansea City at home in early February, they have gone winless in their last four league matches in a row (D2, L2), conceding precisely twice on each occasion. But Stoke have barely broken a sweat en route to setting up this tie, overcoming lower-league sides Wigan and Leyton Orient in the previous two FA Cup rounds by the same 2-0 scoreline. Worryingly, though, the ‘Potters’ have racked up just two wins from their last ten away matches in the competition (D2, L6), while their last appearance in the FA Cup quarter-finals dates back to 2011/12.