Stoke City won their last meeting with Chelsea in December, but it was their first victory in 13 attempts. In among those encounters were ten Blues wins, including a 7-0 and 4-0. Mark Hughes thus achieved something predecessor Tony Pulis never did by beating his former club. Now the Potters travel to Stamford Bridge in the last tie of FA Cup fourth round weekend. Stoke reached the final in 2011, but were runners-up to Manchester City. No team in England has dominated this competition like Chelsea in recent years. They have featured in four of the last seven FA Cup finals, winning all of them. The first of those came in 2007 during Jose Mourinho's first spell as Blues boss. The Potters have lost four of their last six matches, but their single recent win came in the cup when they knocked Championship leaders Leicester City out in the last round. Chelsea meanwhile have recorded six victories in a row and suffered defeat just once since being beaten by Stoke last month.
Jamie Clark is a qualified Web Journalist after undergoing professional training at the University of Sheffield. A prolific and accredited sports writer, he also enjoys classic comedy, historic fiction, 80s music and heritage.
