Preview: Stoke City vs. Newcastle United

Stoke City will attempt to continue their solid form at the Britannia when they welcome a struggling Newcastle United outfit on Wednesday.

The Potters struggled for form in the early stages of the season, but a run of three games unbeaten has left them in 12th spot in the table, just one win away from the top half.

Newcastle, meanwhile, have not won in their last six matches in all competitions and with a tough fixture list ahead, they could find themselves dragged into a relegation battle.

The corresponding fixture last season ended in a 3-1 win for the Magpies, while Newcastle were also triumphant on their own patch with a 3-0 win at St James' Park in April.

Stoke will be without injured duo Rory Delap and Marc Wilson in the clash, while injury-hit Newcastle will be without as many as six-first team players, with Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye key absentees.

Recent form:

Stoke: DLWDW Newcastle: DLLDL

Possible lineups:

Stoke: Begovic; Shotton, Huth, Shawcross, Cameron; Etherington, Adam, N'Zonzi, Kightly; Walters, Crouch

Newcastle: Krul; Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Santon; Ferguson, Anita, Tiote, Jonas; Ba, Cisse

Sports Mole says: 1-0