Stoke City host Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday looking to inflict more misery on the reigning champions and manager Jose Mourinho.

Mark Hughes will be hoping for a repeat of his side's Capital One Cup victory last week as they look to record their first league win at the Britannia Stadium since 26 September.

Head-to-head

Stoke have only beaten Chelsea once in the Premier League, losing 11 of their 15 meetings with the London club in the league. Their sole success was a 3-2 win in December 2013 at the Britannia Stadium when Oussama Assaidi scored a late winner, while on-loan from Liverpool.

However, the Potters will be hoping for a repeat of their League Cup win against last year's winners last week. It looked as Jonathan Walters' goal would be enough for Stoke to win after 90 minutes, but Loic Remy equalised in stoppage time to force extra-time.

Despite having to play the entire 30 minutes of extra-time with only 10-men, after Phil Bardsley was sent-off in injury-time, the Potters showed great character and resilience to force the tie into the penalty shoot-out and Jack Butland was the hero saving Eden Hazard's penalty.

Stoke City looking to get back on track

It has been an up and down start to the season for Stoke City.

Mark Hughes' side started the season without a win in their opening six league games, which did not match the pre-season optimism at the Britannia Stadium after the signings of Xherdan Shaqiri, Ibrahim Afellay and Glen Johnson.

However, all of a sudden things looked much brighter for Stoke. The Potters won three successive league games, following up their victory over Bournemouth with back-to-back away wins against Aston Villa and Swansea City.

They collected just one point from their next two games after a disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Watford and a hard fought point in a goalless draw with Newcastle United last weekend.

Having said that, Stoke have lost just once in their last six games and will take confidence from their League Cup victory over Chelsea last week.

The Britannia Stadium not the fortress it once was

Two big factors in Stoke's inconsistent start to the season is their home form and their struggles in front of goal and Mark Hughes will be eager for his side to improve both of those against Chelsea on Saturday.

The Britannia Stadium is widely known to be a fortress and an intimidating place to play. However, only four of Stoke's 13 points this season come at home, with the Potters losing three of their five home league matches this season.

Another problem for Stoke this season has been scoring goals. The Potters are the league's lowest goalscorers, having found the net just nine times in 11 league games this season.

However, Chelsea have conceded 21 goals already this season - having conceded 32 in the whole of last season- and they have conceded 12 goals in their five league games away from home at an average of 2.4 goals per game.

The opposition

Chelsea sit 15th in the Premier League with just 11 points from as many matches and are 14 points adrift of league leaders Manchester City and second-placed Arsenal.

The Blues have lost six league matches already this season - Jose Mourinho has never lost seven in a single league season as a manager.

Last weekend's 3-1 defeat at home to Liverpool confirmed their worst start to a league season since 1978-79 and they have never lost three games in a row under Roman Abramovich's ownership.

Chelsea did beat Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League, but they need to start winning in the league and the Blues will have to do without Mourinho, who has been given a one-match stadium ban over his behaviour in the defeat by West Ham United.

Team news

Defender Geoff Cameron is back in the Stoke squad after recovering from a thigh strain which saw him miss the last two games.

Phil Bardsley is available after serving a one-match suspension, but goalkeeper Shay Given (knee) and defender Marc Muniesa (hamstring) are both out with injuries and midfielder Marco Van Ginkel is ineligible against his parent club.

Chelsea forward Pedro is fit again and returned as a substitute in the midweek victory over Dynamo Kiev. 

Defender Branislav Ivanovic has returned to training after recovering from a hamstring injury and he is in contention.

Striker Radamel Falcao is out for a few weeks with an injury, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (knee) remains sidelined.

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About the author
Adam Bailey
Everton editor, who also covers cycling and athletics.