Stoke City 1-2 Crystal Palace - 6 Things We Learned
Mark Hughes' attacking Potters side welcomed Pardew's high flying Eagles on a wet and windy afternoon in Stoke.
On Saturday, Mark Hughes' entertaining Stoke side welcomed Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace to The Britannia Stadium in a game the would have seen the Potters draw level with the Eagles on twenty six points and possibly even leapfrog above them with a convincing win. Palace travelled up the M40 in good form having won two and drawn one of their last three games. They could also boast the third best away record in the division; sitting just behind the Premier League's pace setters Leicester and Arsenal. Stoke were also in pretty good knick after beating Manchester City 2-0 in their last home game and had been gradually building a head of steam after a slow start to the season. Both teams weren't without their troubles however, with Stoke scoring less than a goal a game throughout their first sixteen games while Palace were still waiting for a striker to score a goal this season. Team News: Xherdan Shaqiri returned for Stoke after missing out on last weeks goalless draw at West Ham. Stoke were also without Geoff Cameron. Palace only made one change from the side that beat Southampton as Yohan Cabaye missed out with a heel injury; Joe Ledley took his place for only his second start of the season.