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Stoke are on a bad run at the moment, Fuller's poor form and the novelty of Delap's prodigious throw-in ability on the wane. Tony Pulis has added a bit of quality to the side, however, with the addition of James Beattie and Matthew Etherington. Those two it was that combined to score in the 3-1 defeat at the hands of Spurs on Tuesday, and Stoke are still a rough-and-tumble outfit who can cause an upset when playing at home. Ryan Shawcross is player who will probably go on to better things.

Off the pitch both Pulis and chairman Peter Coates have been quite outspoken in the media about their opposition to "foreign" ownership of Premier League clubs, citing Man City specifically. Whether they have a point or not, the timing of their comments may be unfortunate - I wonder if Kaldoun al-Mubarak will be attending this fixture, and will he be welcome?

As for City, expect Hughes to pick the same team that defeated Newcastle, although I believe that Stoke will provide a much sterner test than the Geordies. SWP and Zabaleta are apparently fit for selection, De Jong showed that he is short of a few games, so Hughes has some serious thinking to do. It will be a tough game as City are effectively parading a new line-up, especially if Given is signed - Kompany and Ned are still gelling, Bridge is only 3 games into his City career, Zabs is in a new partnership with Nigel de Jong and Bellamy is a recent arrival of course.

With this in mind, I'll be delighted with a 1-0 victory.

BLOOVIC