Stoke City face West Midlands opposition for the second time in three days as they welcome Birmingham City to the bet365 Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Blues make the short trip to the Potteries having put together a three-match unbeaten streak in the Championship since the arrival of Aitor Karanka.
Match preview
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When Stoke succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at home to Bristol City last month, Stoke fans would have inevitably had concerns about their future prospects.
However, that has proven to be a minor blip, with Stoke registering three wins in succession and taking their clean-sheet count for the season to six.
Two of their victories this campaign have come versus Premier League opposition on away territory, the latest being against Aston Villa on Thursday night.
Michael O'Neill will be placing more focus on making headway up the Championship standings, but setting up an EFL Cup last-eight showdown with Tottenham Hotspur is something to look forward to later in the year.
Birmingham have been progressing on a similar trajectory to their next opponents, conceding just two goals during their four matches in all competitions.
The second of those came at home to Rotherham United last weekend, only for the Blues to instantly respond with an equaliser which preserved their unbeaten record.
The bounce-back point would have impressed Karanka, but the Spaniard will be the first to admit that his side have to offer more in the final third of the pitch.
While two goals have been conceded at the back, the same amount have been netted further forward, and Karanka must decide whether partnering Scott Hogan with Lukas Jutkiewicz will prove to be an effective strategy in future games.
Stoke City Championship form: DLW
Stoke City form (all competitions): DWLWWW
Birmingham City Championship form: WDD
Birmingham City form (all competitions): LWDD
Team News
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Although Sam Vokes has put himself in contention for a recall, Tyrese Campbell may partner Steven Fletcher in attack.
Nick Powell could regain his league place, but Danny Batth will remain among the replacements due to the form of Harry Souttar.
With Stoke using a back three, Karanka may decide to stick with Jutkiewicz and Hogan in the final third.
The Spaniard is also coming under pressure to hand a first start to former Athletic Bilbao man Mikel San Jose.
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Davies; Chester, Souttar, Martins Indi; Smith, Clucas, Powell, Mikel, Fox; Fletcher, Campbell
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Etheridge; Colin, Dean, Friend, Pedersen; Sanchez, Clayton, Sunjic, Bela; Hogan, Jutkiewicz
We say: Stoke City 1-0 Birmingham City
Has there ever been a game which will receive as many goalless predictions as this one? Probably not. However, we are going to back the home side to again prevail by the narrowest of scorelines, potentially ending Birmingham's resistance during the closing quarter.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or draw in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Draw:data
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Stoke City win with a probability of 45.45%. A draw had a probability of 29.6% and a win for Birmingham City had a probability of 24.94%.
The most likely scoreline for a Stoke City win was 1-0 with a probability of 15.8%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.65%) and 2-1 (7.95%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (13.01%), while for a Birmingham City win it was 0-1 (10.65%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13% likelihood.
